道中　野　天使・Journey of Angels
by Lady Starwing
Summary: AU Kratos finds Lloyd ten years earlier than he does in the game. Watch the adventure and mishaps the fatherXson mercenary duo go through! NOT A CRUXIS LLOYD!-is shocked with self- Angel!Lloyd. Kitsune!Sheena
1. １・秋・Aki

_AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!  
__**Florina: **?? D—Did I do something wrong?? –worried-  
__DAMN PLOT BUNNIE!! –beats head against wall-  
__**Florina: **Oh!! You … have a new story??  
__Regrettably, yes. T.T –sobs dramatically- No more after this … I promise …  
__**Florina:** There, there … -pats Li's head-  
__T.T Ah … at least its fluffy oyako smarm … -sobs- I hate my overactive imagination sometimes!!  
__**Florina:** -hugs Li- Hush ... –to audience- Uhh … Li-chan owns nothing …_

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_Time and Again …  
I will find this place once more …  
'Neath the autumn leaves …  
For every season that passes us by …  
I can't help this pain that I feel …  
Even though you have gone …  
I still feel you beside me …  
Time and Again …  
I wish to see you …_

**-****道中　野　天使・****Journey of Angels-**

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-_１・_秋_・__Aki-_

The sound of the dying leaves scattering at his feet made the swordsman look down, eyes forlorn. This time of year, usually his favorite, now only brought sorrow and painful memories. A sigh passed through barely parted lips to join the crisp, autumn air. Wine colored eyes looked to the ground beneath a raised hood, shadowing their color so that they nearly matched some of the leaves that scattered in the wind and blew across the ground, captive to the breeze that moved them.

Like the breeze of time that had taken _them_ as well.

Stopping before a cliff face, the man looked up, allowing the hood to fall from his head. His unruly auburn hair blended in with the falling leaves, their uneven tresses tangling and bunching together in the breeze. It was here, where he now stood, that the ground was once red with blood.

'I wonder if you're beneath me as well … my child.'He thought, eyes blurring with tears he couldn't shed. Although he stood alone in the forest, he felt as if he could still reach out and touch at least _someone_, whether it was one of those he had killed to protect those he loved, or if it was the one he still hoped lived … somehow.

Kratos Aurion did this every year—between the first day of autumn and the second week of October, he wandered about Sylvarant, lost and alone. He ignored those that sneered at him in Welgaia for doing this; there was little chance that the boy was alive still, they told him. If he was to find his son, he would've found him the night he lost him.

It didn't matter; this time of year, he fell deaf to their taunts. Kratos sighed again, eyes going from the edge of the cliff to the earth beneath his feet, covered in autumn leaves. "Lloyd …" the name escaped him, and as the leaves blew around his feet, he almost thought he could hear a voice.

_Daddy …_

Head snapping up and towards the direction of the sound, Kratos fancied that he saw something move in the underbrush. Something fast and obviously human; he could hear the feet smacking the ground as it ran. " … Lloyd?" he spoke louder this time, moving towards the moving bush.

_Daddy, I'm lost!!_

It was a young boy, at least. Kratos felt a flare of hope grasp him, and he plunged into the bushes and followed the noise, looking around. "Lloyd!" It had to be him, it had to be … "Lloyd!!"

"Help!!"

"Finally cornered you, ya little rat." It sounded either like a Desian had trapped the child, or that someone had caught a thief. Kratos stopped behind a tree, and watched for a few moments. There was a small group of villagers in a half-circle around someone that they had trapped against a river. "What exactly is a red-eyed kid doing running around a village, parentless?" It was the person in the center that was talking, and it seemed like he was accusing someone before him. Kratos strained to see what was hidden behind that wall of bodies.

"Red-eyed brat!! Stay away from our homes!!" A second man was speaking now, and kicked at whatever it was they were trapping. "We have enough to feed ourselves, but we don't have enough as to be peddling it off to mumpers like you!!" There was a thump, but the offended thing didn't make a noise.

Kratos' eyes narrowed sharply; they were kicking a little boy—barley seven, from the look of it—around like a stray dog. There were a couple of bruises on his face, and his clothes were worn and patched. Messy brown hair fell into his face, and a pair of accusing wine red eyes glared at the people around him.

"Like I'd take food from a bunch of pimpled spintries like the lot of you; you prolly pissed in it." He spat out, eyes flashing. Although his accusation only got him another kick in the ribs, Kratos had to admire the boy's courage; just like Anna …

Suddenly realizing what the boy was, Kratos felt himself torn between horror and rage; they were kicking _Lloyd_!! They were kicking his _SON_ around!! Seething, the mercenary pulled up the hood of his cloak just as two of the other men grabbed Lloyd by the arms and hoisted him up. The leader grabbed the young boy's shirt.

"Now listen, you little demon, we've been livin' well. The Chosen lives back in our village as well, and we can't have some mumper like you ruining the place our families have built up over the years. Get your hide lost, or we'll cut if off for ye." Lloyd only glared back at the man, with just as much rage as his little body could possess filling his eyes.

"I bet she's the only one with a lick of niceness in her! The rest of ye are backwoods spintries and doxies with a curst run of a grudge! Pox and murrain on the lot of ye, and may the Bloody Owl mark you for hell." To add insult to injury on the man's part, Lloyd spat in his face.

With a roar, the man let go of Lloyd's shirt and cocked an arm behind his back, ready to strike. Seeing his chance, Kratos moved as fast and as silent as he could, grabbing the man's arm right before he let the blow fly. "What the—GAHH!!" The man only knew that his move was stopped and that his arm was being twisted up behind his back. The others that were with him turned to look, and only saw a man with a hooded grey cloak on, the hood casting all but a pair of glaring brownish-red eyes in shadows.

"Only a true demon hits a child." Kratos growled, placing a bit of pressure on the captive arm, bending it against its natural curve. The man looked at him in misbelief.

"A whelp like him!? He's no more a child than the Desians that did for his parents, not with those eyes of his!!" he hollered, only to find that he had answered wrongly; Kratos' glare intensified, and increased the pressure on the man's arm. "Hey!! What's with you, defending a red-eyed mumper who only knows how to get in the way of the rest of us respectabl—GAAHHH!!" the more he talked, the more Kratos increased the pressure. Finally, with a loud snap, the arm broke.

Kratos let his screaming captive go, and before any of the others could register his movement, the man had swept the legs out from beneath one of the men holding Lloyd and delivered a painful blow to the back of the other's neck. Grabbing onto Lloyd before he fell, the auburn glared at the remaining villagers, clutching his young son to him. "Now, normally I would punish the rest of you for harming a child like the one I hold right now, but seeing as how I am in a _forgiving_ mood, you have a choice; leave, or I will be not so forgiving."

None present missed the icy tone that the strange man used when he first said forgiving; those that were still able to ran away, not glancing back at all. Kratos glared at their retreating backs, and nearly contemplated using Fimbulvetr on them before Lloyd's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Don' think tha' this makes me grateful, mister." The boy was obviously used to being taken advantage of by those who would abandon him a short time after. Kratos looked down at Lloyd as the boy's eyes lost their defiant look and he gazed intently at the ground. "The Bloody Owl knows tha' much as well. Acose sommat like tha' happen'd to my folks, an' I lived. Those cracknobs all think I'ma demon or sommat like tha' … " Kratos felt a brief flicker of anger at the villagers that he had just chased off, and nearly agreed with the Yggdrasil-esque voice in the back of his mind to chase them down _and_ use Fimbulvetr on them.

"What were you doing, might I ask?" Kratos asked instead, settling down on the ground, Lloyd still held in one arm; he must've been malnourished, because he was far lighter than a seven-year-old of his height should've been. The brunet looked up at him in confusion.

"What's it you?" He replied, his memory telling him to be ready to run. Oddly enough though, his instincts were telling him to sit and wait; mayhap this man was here for a different reason than to use some orphan for hard labor then leave him in a street. Kratos simply looked back at Lloyd, face bland; the boy finally sighed and looked away. "He wasn' there, again …"

"Who?" Kratos let the arm that held Lloyd drop away, although he felt that he truly knew.

"My dad; the Bloody Owl says tha' he's still alivin, bu' she don' know where." Lloyd looked up at the man, head cocked to one side in confusion. "Meanin no offense, mister, but why'd ya still have your hood up? Ya on the lamb or somethin?" Wincing at the thick street child cant, Kratos shook his head, and began to pull of the hood of his cloak.

The expression that overtook Lloyd's face when Kratos' hood was down was one of shock and misbelief. "Yev'e ... yev'e my eyes ..." Lloyd whispered, staring straight back into Kratos' eyes, trembling. "..." Realization seemed to dawn on Lloyd, and he trembled as he stared at Kratos in wonder. "Yev'e ... Yev'e been gone for long'r than I thoug' ye'd live for." He sobbed after a moment, burying his face in his father's shirt.

Kratos—although stunned to find that Lloyd remembered him—smiled and wrapped both arms around his slightly filthy and battered child. He'd been searching for four years now … and to find him so close to the spot where he'd lost him in the first place … A thought struck Kratos dead on. "Lloyd? Do you still have your mother's … Exsphere?" He asked, concerned; if any Desian had gotten their hands on it ….

"Tha' cursed thing?" Lloyd scowled. "I brok' tha' thing as soon as I could. No mot shoulda hav to suffer through tha'." looking away, the brunet sighed heavily and snuggled in closer to his father. he didn't want to let go again, not after having been away from him for so long ... Kratos smiled at Lloyd and began to ruffle his unruly brown hair, amamzed that he'd managed to keep himself cleaner than the rest of the poor children that usually lived in the streets; but then again, Iselia was a slightly cleaner place than Meltokio, where the worst of the street children had lived.

"And you've been living on your own for four years now ... I'm so sorry ..." he sighed after a moment, closing his eyes and mentally punishing himself for not searching earlier. Although Lloyd had proven that he was strong, it was still too young for a child to be on his own. "I promise ... I won't leave you behind again."

"Curst well you won't! I'll have the Bloody Owl a'hauntin' you till you come back for me!" Lloyd stated enthusiastically, laughing in spite of his tears that were now streaming down his face. Kratos found himself chuckling as well, and as he stood, he shifted his grip so that Lloyd was still tucked into his arm.

"And I truly do not want that." He assured the boy, looking out towards the west. 'To hell with Cruxis; I am not taking Lloyd there.' Kratos told the voice in his mind that was telling him to hurry up to Cruxis with his child; now that they were together, why not get back to where there were no Desians? 'He has been through enough as it is; I will teach him swordplay and the angelic arts, but he will not become one of Yggdrasil's puppets. Not if I have a thing to say about it. But first …' Kratos looked down at Lloyd again, smiling as his son grinned up at him. 'We need to see Yuan; Lloyd needs clothes, an Exsphere, and a bath.'

"Let's be off then." Kratos said aloud, walking off towards the direction of the main road. Lloyd let out a loud whoop of joy—making his poor father wince—and the two were off, leaving the autumn wind dancing in their absence, scattering the leaves around with their gentle touch. And if one listened closely, they could hear a happy voice sending the two on their way, telling them to be safe, and to one day, return.

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The journey has begun …

_Beneath the autumn sun …  
__All the world must hold its breath  
__To wait and see where this path doth end  
__Whether in shadows or in radiant light  
__Something shall come from this night._

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Finally … X.X I really mean it! No new stories after this!

_**Florina:** Please review._


	2. 2・火・Lessons by firelight

_Okay, Li here. Seems I have a couple things to clear up._

_1) Fimbulvetr: Yes, I meant to say that; I did not misspell Flamberge. It's an ice spell from the "Fire Emblem" game series, and before you ask why I have Kratos using it, I'll touch on the reason in this chapter. It doesn't apply for all of my stories, but it's something that came to mind recently. he will also use an advanced form of Fimbulvetr that I created: "Fimbulviaslai"_

_2) New stories: What I meant is that I wanted to actually FINISH some of my multichapter fics before I posted any new ones. I will write new material soon, (Mainly because I need to wrap up the Harmonious Lands Trilogy, and the Four Gods quartet ...) But until I have like ... seven/eight of my current ongoing fics done, don't expect any new multichapter fics. My Oneshot collections (For my Family, Kisses and Flowers, and Two Perverts' Guide to Romance), any future oneshots, and the two collab stories I have going are discluded. -nods- That make more sense??_

_Alrighty then. I own nothing, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter!!_

_-- _

2・火・Lessons by firelight

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Night had fallen by the time Kratos and Lloyd had reached the edge of the Triet Desert, and so Kratos preceded to set up camp. Gathering wood for the fire, Kratos set the logs down in a small circle of stones that he had Lloyd make when they first settled. "Fireball." The older angel whispered, setting the wood to burn in sparking crimson flames. Lloyd watched his father with wide eyes as Kratos drug out the remains of some animal he had killed during his wandering and set it to cook on a skewer he had made from a discarded branch.

"There's not enough for th' pair o' us." Lloyd commented after a moment, looking at his father in concern. "Whattya goin' to do, acose you don' hav' te starve yerself to feed me." Kratos winced at Lloyd's street child cant, and made a mental vow to start working on that immediately.

"What are you going to do, and because, Lloyd," He lectured gently, making eye contact to enforce the importance of proper grammar onto his son. Lloyd nodded after a moment, and Kratos continued, "I do not need to eat, Lloyd; that's part of the curse of being an angel."

"So ye do still have 'em!" Lloyd exclaimed, eyes wide. "Your flappers, I mean."

Kratos visibly winced at the cant his son used to speak with. He knew that Lloyd meant his wings when he said flappers, but having to listen to someone talk like that was pure torture in a way. Kratos himself wasn't a extreme stickler for proper language, but he did have some standards.

"They're called wings, Lloyd." He told the young brunet with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. Glancing at the meat, he saw that it was ready and put it on a plate for Lloyd. "Dinner's ready, but blow on it until you can eat it without your mouth burning up from doing so." Kratos told Lloyd, and sat back with a smile as Lloyd scrambled over to him and took the plate eagerly. Instead of scurrying back over to the other side of the fire, however, Lloyd plopped down in his father's lap and snuggled up to him before beginning to eat.

"Do ye know how much I misse' ye, curse it all?" Lloyd demanded of Kratos gently, sighing heavily around a piece of meat in his mouth.

"Talking with your mouth full is rude, Lloyd." Kratos replied softly, wrapping both arms around his son's shoulders. "… You probably missed me as much as I did you. I was so lonely without you and your mother … it was torture."

"I can imagine it; ye've always been quiet, but when I aheard ye, ye sounded like someone had given you a date with the Bloody Owl or sommat." Lloyd commented, eyes closing in simple delight as he absorbed warmth from both his father's body and the fire.

"When you say the Bloody Owl, do you mean the Spirit of Death?" Kratos asked, trying to make sense of Lloyd's cryptic sentence. He felt his son nod, and grimaced. "How often did you have an encounter with her?" He asked, struggling to keep his voice level, 'How many brushes with death have you had, and how severely can I punish those fools for causing it?' he thought, temper starting to settle into his bones.

"Once or twice, after a'fallin off the cliff." Lloyd shrugged, as if it wasn't all that important. "The firs' fall after the cliff, I'd fallen in fron' a pack of hungry wolves... Theyd'a thought I'da been an easy meal, bu' then this black bird with flappers dipped in blood and a ghost face appeared in fron' o' me and sent 'em away." His eyes blurred slightly at that, and he continued softly, "then, she turned an' looked at me all worry-like, an' said it wasn' my time yet. It wasn' till the secon time tha' any person came after me."

"What do you mean?" Kratos asked, fighting the seething rage building within him. Lloyd sighed and put the plate aside, and turned so that half of his face was buried in Kratos' cloak.

"One o' 'em saw it; my dyin' acause o' the wolves, I mean. He though' tha' a nice burial for a youngin like me woulda be the least he could do. But he reached me just as the Bloody Owl brought me back to life, an' my hurts wen' away. After tha', about a year passed without much mishap or problems, bu' then the cove tha' asaw it managed to get a bunch of his friends in on the hunt, an' chased me a'clean outta the village before I ran across a Desian. The dumb spintry shot' me with a bird plugger in the leg, and the' the rest started a'beating ..." Lloyd shook his eyes. "Them as did it got done in shortly after, though; the Bloody Owl brought me back right in front of 'em, and then ..." Kratos felt Lloyd twitch against him, and so the Seraph lowered his hand so that it rested gently against Lloyd's mouth.

"It's alright; you don't have to continue." Kratos assured him, mentally thanking whoever it was that created the Summon spirits for giving Ereshkigal an acute sense of retribution. "It must've been a bloody death."

"She didna kill 'em." Lloyd muttered, voice muffled by clothes and flesh. Kratos blinked, and looked down at him in confusion.

"What??"

"She didna kill 'em, bu' she did do sommat rather nasty." Lloyd shifted so he could be heard more easily. "She a'wiped 'em from some big black book o' 'er's, and they just ... went completely blank."

"What do you mean, they went completely blank?" Kratos asked, worried; all scrolls that mentioned Ereshkigal said that the death spirit had some rather, harsh forms of punishment, but it was never said exactly what she did. Lloyd sighed, and shook his head.

"Just tha'--they went all white, no faces, no nothin."

"I see ..." Kratos shuddered, and would've continued if a rustling noise behind him hadn't drawn his attention. Glancing up, the forms of three wolves loping closer to the camp made Kratos tense briefly, and he extended one hand. Lloyd watched his father with wide eyes as he whispered, _"Fimbulviaslai."_

With no visible prompting, a blizzard formed around the three wolves, the shards of ice and snow tearing through fur and skin to draw the animals' blood. Their howls rang eerily on the wind, which howled along with them. And then the earth shuddered, three immense pillars of ice shooting out from beneath the ground to pierce clean through the wolves, the glowing powder blue and white structures turning deep violet from the blood running down their sides.

As soon as they had appeared, the ice pillars vanished, and the three wolves dropped from the open air to land limply on the ground. Kratos sighed in annoyance. "Darn mutts, they must've smelt the cooking meat and come for it." He muttered, shaking his head.

"How didjya do tha', Da?" Lloyd asked breathlessly, eyes wide. Kratos looked at Lloyd with a faint smile.

"That was magic Lloyd."

"Magic??"

"Yes. Here, let me explain this way." grabbing a nearby twig, Kratos brushed a section of the earth clear, and began to write out the word in the common runes. "Magic, to put it simply, is changing the mana around us in a certain way in order to make something else happen, something that wouldn't've happened normally."

"Y'mean like how you made it snow 'round a bleeding desert?" Lloyd asked, his enthusiasm evident. Kratos chuckled and nodded, ruffling Lloyd's hair with his spare hand. It was good to know that Lloyd at least understood the basic concept of magic.

"Correct. Now mana ... Mana is the world's life force, and--if you think about it--it is also the river of energy for mages. A mage or spell caster must call upon Mana in order to use magic. If there isn't enough mana to perform a certain spell, then the mage has to use a different spell. And depending on the mana's element or the level of the spell, one might have to use an incantation in order to cast the spell in the first place. Botching the incantation is not the best thing in the world to happen to a mage."

" 'The mana's element??'" Lloyd asked, completely confused. "What you mean by that?"

"That is a bit more difficult to explain, but I'll try." Kratos wiped aside the words 'magic' and 'mana' in the dirt--he would teach Lloyd how to read and write when they had more time and were actually in a building. In place of the words, Kratos drew a large circle, then drew three more rings within the circle. "There are eighteen summon spirits, and all of them are tied to something. Mana can draw upon the different spirits' presence, and can therefore make itself answer more easily to those that have an affinity to that spirit."

"Affinity??"

"It means you have a talent for something." Kratos replied to Lloyd's question. "My affinity happens to lie with ice, and therefore spells like Fimbulviaslai and Freeze Lance are easier to use than spells like ... Flame lance or something to that extent. But moving on ... The Summon Spirit King, Origin, is the mast of Aether." Kratos drew the angelic glyph for Aether in the innermost ring. "He controls time and space, and is quite the impressive spirit to meet personally. Then comes Maxwell, Verius, and Ereshkigal." Kratos drew three more glyphs in the next ring out, then drew lines connecting them. "As you know, Ereshkigal--or the Bloody Owl, as you call her--is the Spirit of Death. Verius is the spirit of Heart--not love, mind you; a lot of people get that mixed up. He watches over all things that have a heart, not just lovers; I have no clue as to who started that theory, but it's flawed."

"If you say so, Da." Lloyd commented, earning a light smack upside the head. He looked up and saw Kratos' smile, though, and knew that he wasn't in trouble. "What was the other one ye mentioned again??"

"Maxwell, the Spirit of Birth. These three are all connected because they all need one another to function." the auburn braced himself for Lloyd's inedible comment about that not making sense, but was shocked to see Lloyd nodding in understanding. "No confusion over that??"

"Not really ... I mean, you need a heart te be born in th' firs' place, an' only thos' wit' hearts can die." Lloyd nodded, then leaned back and looked up in annoyance at his father. "You keep stopping; who're the others??"

"Ah ... then we come to the Eight Elementals; they're the ones that most people think about when they hear the words "Summon Spirit"." Kratos then set about drawing the eight element glyphs in the sand, although he was certain that the glyph for 'ice' had appeared briefly when he had cast Fimbulviaslai. "Fire, Water, Wind, Light, Ice, Lightning, Earth, and Dark. The ones across from one another on the circle are polar opposites, and share a mana link." Kratos didn't notice what he had said until he had said it; he mentally kicked himself for letting the information slip. 'Oh well, I did want to take him to Tethe'alla at some point,' he sighed mentally.

"Mana link? In the name of Mother Matel, whadjya mean by tha'!?" Lloyd demanded, utterly confused. Kratos winced and sighed.

"I can't explain it right now Lloyd. I'll tell you when the time's a bit more ... appropriate." He side-stepped the question, but he knew Lloyd wasn't satisfied yet. "If you keep asking about things like that, I won't be able to finish this in time, alright?" When Lloyd nodded, Kratos gave him a quick hug in apology. "I promise, I will tell you, but not now. But anyways ... the Eight Elementals are also the ones that Mana draws on for unique affinities. You'll find healers that specialize in birth, heart and death, and nobody save for Mithos has had a connection with Aether. Some say that the Goddess Martel was tied to all of the Eight Elementals and the three life givers.

"Now the last six are not tied to life or elements, but rather what makes a human, _human_." reaching the last and outer most circle, Kratos drew an odd glyph in the dirt. "Angelica, known as 'The Maiden' in historical reference, is the spirit of Trust. After her is the spirit of Knowledge, Isis. Then comes the spirits of Joy, honor, truth and cunning; respectively, they are Joyeu, Honora, Veritas, and Nimue." Finishing the last of the six outer glyphs, Kratos concluded, "The reason they are so rare is because they are so hard to locate now; some people believe that they don't even exist anymore. But there have been sightings of Angelica, the Spirit of Trust, though; she often is seen near Umacy, talking with a winged unicorn."

"Really?" Lloyd asked, then yawned loudly. Kratos looked down at him and smiled.

"Indeed, but I think I've covered enough for tonight." He told Lloyd, throwing another log on the fire. "The hour is late, and you need sleep. We'll cover more things like this when we get to Yuan tomorrow." Lloyd would've objected, but he yawned loudly and nodded reluctantly. When Kratos handed him the blanket that he carried in his pack, Lloyd wrapped it around himself and curled up, sleeping soundly, head resting on his father's chest, close to his heart.

Kratos, unable to make himself move the sleeping boy, simply smiled and wrapped both arms around him in a tight hug. "Dream well, my son." he whispered, placing a light kiss to his forehead before looking out at the night, one hand on Flamberge. Although it was likely that the smell of blood and the sight of the dead wolves would deter most animals, he wasn't about to run the risk of something happening to make him loose Lloyd again.

The fire before the two snapped and crackled with untamed energy, shooting glowing yellow sparks to the half moon. Kratos looked at it, then at the circle he had drawn in order to wipe it away, but stopped with a light chuckle; the glyph closest to the fire was _Efrina_--fire.

--

_Okay, one three now ... KAWAI!! -dies from oyako overdose-_

_;D I absolutely ADORED writing this chapter, if I am to be truthful!! I guess reading "Brisingr" twice within the week addled with my brain. XDXD And reading "Terrier" again helped me brush up on the dialect I had Lloyd speak with. I personally do not speak like that, but I do use some unusual words on occasion. XD And I just had to have the slip-up about the mana links in there; they will be going to Tethe'alla at some point, but most likely not until Lloyd's ten or something._

_As always, leave a review!! It helps motivate me and helps me concentrate in class!! Sayonara, and good night!_

_-Li-chan0767_


	3. ３・麻奈・Mana

_Eh heh he ... Looks like this is going up rather quick!  
**Kratos:** You have no life, Li.  
And you do, Bird-Man?  
**Kratos:** ... I wish you would stop calling me that ...  
Whatev. You like this story and you know it. Give disclaimer. please Kratos-dono!! -puppy eye no jutsu-  
__**Kratos:** ... I hate you.  
__You're not the only one. X3  
__**Kratos:** ... Li does not own Tales of Symphonia._

-３・麻奈・Mana-

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Reaching the Renegade base the next afternoon, Kratos found that traveling with Lloyd was a slightly trying activity. Not only was the young boy rather excited to be with his father again, but he was about as fearless as a storm, and would charge at the bandits they ran across and immobilized one of their legs long enough for Kratos to cut them down. Upon rescuing Lloyd, Kratos would briefly lecture the seven year old on safety; it always went in one ear and out the other with him. Not that Kratos fully minded, seeing as how Lloyd knew just what to do in order to keep himself safe.

"Wotta place," Lloyd commented slowly, looking the building over. "Person'ly, I don' see th' poin in a'paintin' it … blue. Don' make it any icier inside." Kratos resisted the urge to laugh at the statement and simply beckoned Lloyd to follow him into the building.

Upon seeing Kratos enter, the two Renegades on guard duty all but leapt out of their skins. "Y—you!! Why are you here!?" One stammered, pointing at Kratos in shock.

"There is nothing wrong. My son and I are simply here to see Yuan." Kratos replied evenly, making the two half-elves look between him and Lloyd in shock; sure, they knew that Origin's Seal was an old friend of Yuan's, but they didn't know he had a child! Lloyd looked at the men who were staring at him, and flashed them a wolfish grin from his place beside Kratos.

"I … I see. Come this way then." The second guard stammered out after a moment, and he turned around and led the visitors deeper into the base. Kratos shook his head, stooping just enough to allow Lloyd to clamber onto his back; the poor boy was tired after a day of walking through the desert. "Lord Yuan had been doing some strenuous work lately, so he might not be in a mood to see you." The Renegade explained as they walked, not turning back as they navigated the winding halls and stairs. Kratos shrugged lightly, although the man couldn't see him.

"I can work with that." He replied, eyes darting around; friend of Yuan or no, he never really felt all that comfortable in this place … "Besides, I think he will be interested about what I wish to speak with him about." The Renegade shrugged as well, and a nice lull of silence overtook them. Reaching the door to Yuan's office, the man leading the two humans moved aside to allow them to enter. Kratos nodded to him and entered.

Not shockingly, Yuan was sitting at his desk doing paperwork … with earphones in. Kratos' eye twitched; when Yuan had first discovered the mysterious musical device … thing over on Tethe'alla (in Altamira, nonetheless), he'd bought one to keep himself from zoning out while doing paperwork. While it wasn't blaringly loud, it did drown out most levels of noise. Which was rather impressive, considering the levels of hearing that the Seraphim possessed; anything that could drown out utter silence and the near quiet whrring of machines while at the same time allowing one to hear someone call your name was rather worthy of note.

Kratos still didn't care for them that much.

Unfortunately, Yuan seemed to have both earphones in, and most likely didn't hear Kratos and Lloyd enter. Kratos' eye twitched again. 'He hates it when I have to do this, but it gets his attention.' He sighed mentally, and then looked at Yuan. With a firm voice, he called out, "OI, LIGHTNING ROD!"

Yuan leapt about three feet in the air, and his wings came out from the shock; his long sapphire hair also stood on end. During his spaz attack, one of his hands had smacked the music player, sending it flying through the air; Kratos caught it before it hit anything. Lloyd—who found the scene highly entertaining—began to laugh hysterically from Kratos' back, the cheerful sound ringing in the air along with Yuan's subdued curse. The cobalt angel looked Kratos and Lloyd over in great annoyance. "Must you insult me to get my attention?" he demanded, emerald eyes flashing.

"It works better than scaring you, and I can also do so from farther away and at less threat to my life and body." Kratos replied evenly, studying the player with annoyance. "Now how on earth do you turn this bloody thing off?" he muttered, accidentally activating the screen. "… Dare I ask _why_ this is on here?" He asked, recognizing the lettering for the playing song's title as being written in kanji. Yuan went slightly red in the face, and stalked forward to grab the player from Kratos.

"I like it, alright?" he demanded, green eyes snapping. Turning the player off, he stuffed it in his pants pocket. "What are you here for anyway? And who was laughing just now? They sounded about ready to pass out." Yuan looked at Kratos, and nearly jumped back when he saw Lloyd clinging to his father's hair, barely breathing as a result from laughing so hard. Yuan's statement merely made him laugh all the harder.

"Lloyd, breathe." Kratos commented softly; the boy nodded, and tried to calm himself down. When he had, he looked at Yuan with the same wolfish grin that he had given the Renegades on guard duty. Yuan looked between Lloyd and Kratos with a raised eyebrow. Finally, he looked at Kratos and stared.

"When did you find him, and how in the name of the spirits did you get here without Yggdrasil tracking you?" he asked after a moment, voice disbelieving. Kratos shrugged.

"I would not tell him where I was; I have turned my back on Cruxis." He stated firmly, a hint of iron will leaking into his voice. Yuan nodded, really unable to trust himself to speak; for someone like Kratos to say something like that was rather impressive.

"So … what are you and Lloyd doing here, might I ask?" Yuan questioned.

"Lloyd needs decent clothing, a bath, and a Cruxis Crystal, if you have any to spare." Kratos replied, setting Lloyd down onto the floor. Yuan looked at Lloyd himself, and had to grin at the boy; he could tell just by looking at him that he would drive Kratos slightly crazy if he had enough time to work on it before Kratos pounded some discipline into him.

"I'll see what we have." Yuan told Kratos, then led him and Lloyd out into another hallway. Stopping a passing Renegade, Yuan gave them orders to find a Cruxis Crystal, and sent them on their way. Leading the humans into a room, he asked casually. "Do you know what mana element Lloyd has, by any chance? It will be easier to help if I know what sort of things he can do."

"… No, actually," Kratos shook his head. "I don't have a method for finding out, and if I remember correctly … you still have that little orb that does that, right?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Yuan asked in suspicion, glancing back at Kratos with an eye the color of a forest canopy. "It's kept in one of the vaults, and only the higher level mages and Botta know about it in the first place." Leading the pair into a spacious room with a couple of beds, Yuan continued, "I'll go and get that then, but it might take a while; I do still have paperwork to fill out. Bathroom's that way." He jerked his head to the left, and Kratos nodded in thanks.

"Thank you, Yuan. If you hadn't helped, then Yggdrasil might very well have found us." The auburn relaxed, slumping into a chair while Lloyd ran around the room, eyes wide in awe. When Yuan nodded and shut the door, Kratos watched Lloyd with serious eyes, waiting until the boy looked; when he did, he pointed in the direction of the room Yuan had indicated. "Bathe." He ordered gently, and was immensely relieved when Lloyd nodded and dashed into the room. Poking his head in before Lloyd could shut the door, Kratos added, "I'll try and see if there is some adequate clothes for traveling and training somewhere in this place. … Any particular weapon preference?" He asked after a moment of hesitation. 'Lloyd is seven years old; he can begin training now.'

"… Mayhap a col' blades?" Lloyd asked tentatively after a moment. Kratos arched an eyebrow in a silent question. "I don' like havin' one hand empty, that's all!" Lloyd explained hastily, eyes matching his father's. Kratos smiled, as if to say, 'mm-hm, as you insist.'

"Very well; but if I come back and you're not clean, heaven help me I will pin you down and scrub you myself." He threatened mildly, shutting the door behind him. Lloyd shuddered in foreboding, and quickly got the water running; sometimes his father could be downright frightening if he wanted to be.

* * *

Yuan knocked firmly on the door around a half-hour later. While he was grateful to be helping out his friend and comrade, his duty to the Renegades came first, and that involved filling out the rest of the paperwork. While he was grateful that Kratos and Lloyd were reunited, it put him in a sticky position; as soon as Yggdrasil discovered that Kratos hadn't returned yet, he'd turn to Yuan, demanding that he find him. AGAIN, like when Kratos and Anna were together.

Scowling when nobody answered his knocking, Yuan was about to do so again when a loud thudding noise echoed down the hallway. "You're off balance." Kratos' dead-pan, emotionless voice told Yuan that he had already begun to teach Lloyd how to handle a sword. Turning and walking down in the direction where he had heard the voices, the cobalt wasn't too surprised to see Lloyd pushing himself off of the ground with a light mutter of annoyance, a pair of blades in his hands. For someone who didn't have an Exsphere, the seven-year-old was putting up a damn good time.

"While I'm certain that you're eager to teach him swordplay, I've brought the Crystal and the sphere, Kratos." Yuan announced himself, making the other two present turn around. Kratos was wearing the black variation of his violet mercenary outfit—most likely because he didn't think violet would be a good color to wear while pursuing the lifestyle of a mercenary, and he had his blue shield strapped to his wounded left arm. Flamberge rested in a scabbard at his back, and he was using his old hand and a half sword for the moment; Yuan suspected that he would keep Flamberge somewhere safe while he was gone, to further support his human appearance.

Lloyd wore a pair of grey cameo pants with black boots and a black shirt. There were a pair of red birds swooping along the shirt's sleeves, which was probably another reason Kratos had picked it out (apart from the fact that it fit, of course) Lloyd looked between his father and Yuan with confusion.

"Wha' ya get?" He asked after a moment, and soon Yuan found that perhaps part of the reason Kratos was more talkative than usual was to get Lloyd to speak normally; his grammar was killer. Kratos smiled and stepped forward, and took the small Cruxis Crystal in its crest from Yuan with a brief nod of thanks.

"Lloyd, come here please." He instructed, and the brunet trotted over. "… Put the swords away; we're done for right now." Once Lloyd had done so, Kratos gently took Lloyd's left hand and held the Cruxis Crystal over it. "Now, this will sting a little …"

"Only as much as getting your arm broken." Yuan muttered, earning a swift kick and a glare from Kratos. Once he was certain that Yuan wasn't going to interject again, the auburn continued, "This is a strength enhancer, and it will allow your wings to come out."

"Okay …" Lloyd looked at the stone with mild concern, but didn't tug away as Kratos pressed the Key Crest onto his skin; he did wince and hiss in pain, however. After a moment, Lloyd shook his hand to keep it from going numb, and he looked at the adults in confusion. "Now what?" He asked, only to yelp and leap a few inches into the air as his wings began to form. "Tha' feels like sommat's a'trying to crawl outta my skin!!" He exclaimed, looking over his shoulder as two pale blue wings flashed into existence. Lloyd stared at them for a few moments, transfixed.

Yuan, however, was looking at the orb with wide eyes. When Kratos looked at it as well, he could see why; although many people thought Mana had no color, it was in fact the same pale, powder blue that Lloyd's wings were. "Has … has there _ever_ been a record of anyone using sheer Mana before!?" Kratos hissed, startled. Yuan shook his head, and both of them looked at Lloyd, who was grinning broadly, the same thought going through their minds.

'What on earth is going on here?'

* * *

(At the Shrine of Mana…)

Seika stirred slowly, the ancient being barely registering the tug at its life-force. **Who calls me now?** It thought, raising their head. **Ever since Ratatosk wilted, I have slept … who now calls to me?** After a moment of silence, Seika—the Spirit of Mana—sighed heavily, and settled back down. **It seems I will know when our roads cross …**

_

* * *

_

Ah yes, Lloyd is going to use raw Mana in this. It saddens me to see people discard ordinary mana as useless unless it's being manipulated to one of the elements or to healing skills. And Seika (Japanese for Essence/Quintessence, actually) will be playing a rather important role—so will the other six summons.

_As always, review, and next chapter will be up ASAP!!_


	4. 4・祝宴・ A matter of fate …

_Wow, a lot of people like this story!! –is impressed- here I thought it wouldn't be taken so well, but if it's gotten 27 reviews with just three chapters, this might very well take after ARCH in terms of popularity!!! –is happily pleased- That makes me happy, folks!! Keep leaving those wonderful reviews for me!!!_

_Oh, and on another note, the pairings poll will be closed at the beginning of the next chapter. As it stands right now, the pairing is either going to be a Prelloyd (I have a way to make it work, peeps, so no thinking it's going to be pedophilish ….)or a Sheelloyd. However, I won't be shocked to see that change by the time the next chapter's posted. Colloyd is still on the table, but it's lagging behind the other two. NO PEOPLE THAT HAVE VOTED BEFORE CAN VOTE AGAIN!!! _

_Anyway, enough rambling from me!!! Now enjoy chapter four!!!_

4・祝宴・ A matter of fate …

ー

_The chamber was large and vast, as if built for giants. Towering white pillars supported a ceiling painted with the twenty eight celestial mansions, which the lavender haired woman was busy staring at. Her white outfit and ornate silver armor heralded back to a time where warfare that many would consider barbaric was commonplace, and her spear was a masterpiece of steel smithing and silver. A shield painted deep sapphire with a silver lance and axe engraved upon it laid nearby. The young woman's gaze was so intent upon the ceiling above her that she didn't notice she had company until a voice spoke behind her._

"_It is good to see you here as well, Angelica." A brindled gold and copper gryphon with large amethyst eyes walked into view, settling himself across the room from Angelica. The woman looked at him, her aqua eyes curious._

"_Why would I not be, Veritas?" Angelica asked softly, her voice just barely audible. "For someone to awaken Seika, at least the six of us who cannot slumber should meet about it." Veritas nodded, agreeing with her whole-heartedly._

"_True, very true … I just wonder if the other four will be here in time …" As the gryphon spoke, a loud collision was heard in the hallway, and soon a pair of figures stumbled into view, both of them reptilian. One was a startling goldenrod color with brilliant red stripes, with two legs supporting the thing off of the ground while a pair of wings flailed at the air. The second was a paler blue than the color of mana, nearly white, but the sail that raced down the sea serpent's back was a brilliant teal color, as was the webbing in between the talons of her hands and her tail fin. Angelica had to smile lightly at the pair's rather humorous entrance._

"_Joyeu, Nimuè, you two are never going to cease to amaze me." She said as the goldenrod wyvern straightened himself again, and the sea serpent managed to stabilize herself on the solid stone of the marble floor. Joyeu looked at Angelica and smiled like only a wyvern could. Nimuè simply looked at the ground and sighed heavily._

"_It is good to see you as well, Angelica, Veritas. Now only Honora and Isis need to join us, and we can discuss what to do." Like she sounded to the humans who managed to meet her in the watery depths of her home, Nimuè's voice echoed and rippled like a stone being dropped into a deep pool. It was because of that talent that allowed the spirit of cunning to use her skills to the fullest, and she could certainly give a nine tailed fox spirit a run in the pranks division then._

_Veritas rolled his eyes and sighed. "They will come when they come; you cannot make a tortoise race a horse at the horse's pace."_

"_Ah, at least you still have your wits about you, my old friend." A seductive female voice sighed, and a sphinx with the face of a young woman walked into view. Isis' wings and hair were both an ebony shade, and her flesh was the same tan as the sands of her ancestral home. She was the spirit of wisdom, and nothing escaped her notice. "To speak in such a metaphor is a comfort, even if it is an odd one."_

"_You are worried about Seika awakening as well, aren't you Isis?" Joyeu asked, his natural cheer beginning to spread across the room. "I know that this might sound overly optimistic of me, but I think that something good might be happening soon."_

"_Why do you say that?" Nimuè asked the younger spirit gently, curious to see why he held the event in such high regards._

"_I have to admit, I happen to agree with Joyeu about this; if Seika has awakened, then we might just have the mana tree back." All turned to look as Honora arrived, the centaur's impressive appearance and calming manor radiating around him. The part of him that was horse was blue-roan, and his hair and tail were both a bluish-black color. "Ever since we were created, we have been under Seika's command; when Seika was sealed away, we were defenseless against those that could exploit our skills for their gain, and their gain alone."_

"_Like what happened with Ereshkigal, you mean." Angelica whispered, remembering how horribly abused the death spirit's powers were when she had first encountered her._

"_Yes, like our poor sister Ereshkigal." Nimuè sighed softly, bowing her head as a thin membrane passed over her pearlescent eyes. "I do not believe she will ever fully recover her full strength and presence of being after such an event." Deciding that their conversation was getting slightly off topic, she then said calmly, "But as it stands, what is there that we can do in regards to this unexpected occurrence?"_

_"There is nothing, dear Nimuè; we must simply wait for fate to come into play." Isis answered gently, looking around at the other five spirits. "While we might be in service to Seika, we cannot tell what Seika wants to happen. Who knows, the way to his temple might actually open for the first time since humans were first created."_

_"If such comes to pass, it will be because all of our cousins and comrades will have been awakened, and a pact made with at least the eight elementals and possibly the three high spirits and Origin." Veritas continued, looking around at the other six in contemplation, especially Angelica. "It might take a while, but I am willing to wait any amount of time for things to be explained."_

_"I agree; let us wait and see what pans out from this point in time." Honora nodded, voice solemn. "I believe that this upcoming will be a crossroads in time and space, where many things will happen that will shape the face of the world forever more."_

_"And that is something we can adapt to; it has happened before, and it shall happen again, as long as humans are around to make it so." Angelica nodded, voice soft. "And as long as humans are around, there is no limitation to what can be done, or what will happen." Looking at the other spirits, she began to vanish and sighed. "But for now, let us rest, and wait for the day when fate comes into play for us all ..." When she was gone, the other five looked at one another and nodded; if there was one thing that all of them knew, it was that nothing would be impossible to Angelica's eyes. But, they did need to rest, and one by one, the spirits left, until it was only Isis that remained. The spirit of wisdom looked around her once more, then turned her gaze to the star painted ceiling._

_'And so the dice have been rolled. With the cogs of destiny turning at this rate, there will be no way to stop them from spinning.' She thought. "And there is nothing at all that we can do apart from wait as of right now, and what will be, will be. _Keserasera,_ after all." Shaking her head, Isis began to vanish, but she laughed lightly as she did so. "Hard to believe that I never believed in karma before this day; I hope te one that awoke Seika stays on the path that is laid out before his feet, and that he does not stray too far off to one side."_

_With that, she was gone, and the great temple of heaven was once again empty, clouds made of stardust and mist floating in between the pillars to occupy the vast emptiness._

_--_

Lloyd sighed lightly to himself as he looked around the room that he and his father would be staying in for a week while Lloyd and Kratos got to know one another once again and adjusted to traveling with one another. And although Kratos hadn't told his son this, it was also the time and place where he would begin to give the boy a halfway decent schooling, at least. While the majority of Lloyd's knowledge would be learned on the road with his father, Kratos was determined to at least teach Lloyd some _basic_ grammar and speech before they set off. Lloyd rolled his eyes again, and was about to begin sharpening his swords when a book caught his attention. Curious, he went over to it and gently pulled it out of the book case, and tottered over to his bed and set it down by the pillow.

The book in question was bound in leather that had been stained a deep, royal blue. Inscribed on the spine and on the top were some unusual runes, ones that Kratos had used the night before when explaining magic and the summon spirits. The gold lettering was rather ornate, however, and beneath the scrolling penmanship were symbols that Lloyd recognized at the symbols of the summon spirits. Immediately interested, Lloyd opened the book with care, and gasped in awe at what he saw before him; a page whose margins were decorated with incredibly detailed symbols, stars and stones, with something written in brilliant indigo ink in the same runes as the title of the book.

While Lloyd didn't know how to read, he was immediately spellbound by what he saw. His wonder taking a hold of him, he carefully lifted the paper and turned it, marveling at how thin it was, and yet so opaque. The next fifty or so pages contained only words, so he skimmed passed those, but stopped on the next page with an illustration. It was a young woman wearing armor and a shield, an elegant silver lance in one hand, and a pair of small, cherubic white wings growing from her shoulders. The glyph for trust was faintly inscripted behind her in light purple ink, and there was a name written beneath it. Lloyd figured it was the name, and quickly looked up at the desk.

Getting off of the bed, he ran over to it and quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and returned to the bed. Gently, he placed the blank paper over the word in the book, and traced over it with the pencil; he would ask Kratos what it read after he came back. Excited again, Lloyd flipped through the book some more, stopping whenever he found an illustration. The next one he found was a centaur wielding what looked like a rather long axe; the glyph for honor was done in indigo ink.

Next came a winged lion with a woman's head, and a wyvern came after that. Lloyd wrote down their names as well before skipping through, and stared in awe at the next one; there before him was the Bloody Owl, Ereshkigal. While Lloyd had seen her entirely black clad form before, he had never really gotten a good look at her true form before. Now that he did, it sent a shiver down his spine. Most of Ereshkigal's feathers were blacker than night, as were her eyes, but those on her wings and tail were tipped in blood red. The feathers on her face were whiter than snow, making her eyes seem bottomless and haunting. "No wonda it's a terro te meet er ..." he commented aloud, and quickly wrote down her name as well. before continuing on.

He had just reached the last illustration--a two headed bird--when Kratos entered the room. Startled at seeing his son clearly occupied, he walked over to the bed and watched as Lloyd traced the word "Aska" onto a sheet of paper that also held the names of all the other spirits as well. "It seems you can entertain yourself well enough." Kratos said lightly, making Lloyd jump and look at him with wide eyes; he had not heard his father enter the room. Lightly tugging the paper from Lloyd's hands, he raised an eyebrow and looked it over. "Well, I guess I know what we're going to work on first then."

"What??" Lloyd asked, watching as his father walked over to the low desk and pulled two chairs up to it, putting cushions on one. Gesturing to Lloyd to sit in that seat, Kratos took the other one and pulled out another pad of paper, setting the one with the names of the Summon spirits in front of him. When Lloyd had himself seated, the auburn handed him the pad of paper and a pencil, and smiled lightly at him.

"Reading and writing." He said simply, and pointed at the book that Lloyd had pulled down from the book shelf. "Don't lie to me and say that you don't want to know what that old thing says about the summon spirits, because I will not believe you in the least." Lloyd nodded, rather excited for someone that had only spent one day in school a year ago and had never gone back, finding both the teacher and the lessons being taught rather boring. Hopefully his father could make it at least a bit more interesting ...

To his relief, Kratos did just that; he used the names that Lloyd had copied down for the majority of the letters used in the common writings of the two worlds, and introduced ones that the names didn't contain. Then, much to Lloyd's delight, he wrote the names down in the same runes that the book used. It was interesting to see the difference, and when Lloyd asked what the runes the book used were called, Kratos smiled at him. "Those are the letters that were used back during the Valiance era; back then, war was a common occurrence. Some say that it was in this time period when Angelica joined the ranks of the Summon Spirits."

"Angelica?? The Spirit of Trust or sommat?" Lloyd asked, only to receive a light smack. "Hey!! Wha' was tha' for?!"

"To get you to stop talking like that; sadly, it didn't work all that well." Kratos replied evenly, poking Lloyd in the center of his forehead. "While the cant you use right now was satisfactory for a child on the streets, I plan on taking you with me on my jobs as a mercenary. As such, you need to leave the four years you spent on the street behind you; they won't do you any more good than that same amount of time spent rotting away in a school room." To his relief, Lloyd laughed lightly at that; he really didn't seem like the type who learned well from a traditional school setting. While it would be more tiring, in the end, Kratos knew Lloyd would benefit from learning on the road. "I know that such a statement is harsh, but sometimes the world is cruel."

"Duh, Dad." Lloyd replied smoothly, raising one eyebrow. Kratos would have made a comment about it if he hadn't remembered that Lloyd knew very well how harsh the world could be.

"Heh, I have to learn to stop preaching to the choir, don't I?" he asked instead, to which Lloyd laughed lightly.

"That you do, Dad, that you do." He grinned upon seeing Kratos' shocked reaction to his quickly modified grammar. "Wha'? You didna think I'm gonna let you bruise me daily, now did you?" Seeing that his father was not fully able to respond, Lloyd simply grinned again. Kratos blinked for a few seconds, then shook his head. He was about to comment when Yuan's fairly loud yelling of his name said that the cobalt wanted to speak with him about something.

"I'll be back soon." Kratos sighed as he stood up, and pointed at the pieces of paper that they had been working with before. "Now, just to make sure that the lesson got through your head, I want to see those copied at least ten times on a new sheet of paper when I get back. Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Lloyd nodded and switched to a new piece of paper. "Runes and letters or jus' letters?"

"Both, if you want." Kratos responded, leaving soon after; he really didn't know why Yuan was yelling, but it had to be bad, because some of the lights in the hallway were flickering on and off. 'Yuan really needs to learn control when he's in a temper …' he thought, making sure to dodge around the Renegades that came down the hallway as he raced towards Yuan's office, silently cursing the fact that spandex did nothing to stop electricity … or static cling, for that matter.

--

It was late when Kratos and Yuan had finally finished what had eventually evolved into a fierce shouting match that made the auburn certain that he would have a bad migraine for a few hours the next morning. Opening the door to his and Lloyd's room, the man stopped when it was only opened a crack, and for good reason; something else was in the room.

Cautiously, he opened the door just enough to peer into the room, and saw something VERY unusual, one of the attributing factors to this being the fact that whatever this thing was, it was translucent. It was also leaning over a now sleeping Lloyd, and rubbing against his pale blue wings. It took Kratos a moment to figure out exactly what he was seeing, and when he did, he mentally wondered if he was already dreaming; even for one of the seraphim, seeing a Pegasus in a room with one's son was NOT exactly an everyday occurrence.

Fortunately, the Pegasus didn't seem to notice him, because all of its focus was on Lloyd. _**Soon … they've sensed it already, but I cannot return yet …**_ Then, suddenly, the glowing white animal turned and looked Kratos directly in the eye. _**The dice have been rolled, and now, there is no turning back for either of you. Fate has decided to intervene, and right now, her sisters Luck and Destiny are also putting their own two cents in.**_ the Pegasus faded away, but Kratos swore that it stared at him in the eyes as it did so.

'What on earth was that?' Kratos asked himself, and walked all the way into the room; apart from the sight of the Pegasus itself, there was no physical trace of the animal itself, until he looked at the papers scattered on the desk, where, written in runes in Lloyd's handwriting, was one word;

Seika.

_--_

_So … how's that for a plot twist? XD And yes, the Pegasus was Seika, but also NOT Seika. To be honest, it wasn't all of Seika, if that makes sense to anyone apart from me. XD _

_Apart from that, what think about the original six summons I threw in there? (apart from Ereshikgal, who is also in Rainbow Phoenix and many other stories that I'm not going to list)_

_Don't worry, I'm going to try and keep the oyako fluffiness at a good level … X.X expect a time skip next chapter … and until then, review please!!!_


	5. 5・十字路・Reaching the Crossroads

_Well, since this chapter not only has the time skip, but since it is also when Lloyd and Kratos first arrive on Tethe'alla, I must tell you that the pairing poll is now CLOSED. In short, YOU CAN'T VOTE ANYMORE. And with that off my chest, here are the results_

_Colloyd: 2_

_Prelloyd: 4_

_Sheelloyd: 6_

_Well, there you have it. What really amuses me is how it goes up by two with each pairing ... Kranna and Yuartel were both kind of a given, but I'll work with the others from here. But for those of you who wanted Prelloyd, I have a story for that up called "Show me Love" if you care to look at it (Blatant advertizing)._

_Anyway, onto the chappy!! I only owneth ... nothing that appears in this chapter … But there will be some original elemental spells flying around … I think you'll know which ones aren't really from the game …_

5・十字路・Reaching the Crossroads

* * *

(Five years later …)  
A twelve-year-old Lloyd sighed as he looked around the clearing, searching for his father. 'Leave it to Dad to take off when something like this comes up; I hope he doesn't get in too much trouble …' The reason such thought were crossing through Lloyd's mind was because of their last client, who had proven to be not only rather stupid, but aggravating as well. So aggravating, in fact, that Kratos had nearly broken with the first rule of being a mercenary that he had taught Lloyd and had almost put the client into a rather … dangerous position.

"I wonder if he would have carried through with the threat of ice swords in the rear threat though; the ice needles I wouldn't put past him." Lloyd commented to himself, settling down and stretching his arms above his head. To hear Kratos threaten even the ice needles had been a testament to how irritating their client had been. "Me, I would've rammed a mana scalpel in his eye as soon as he called me a brat."

If there was one thing that Lloyd wasn't, it was a brat; four years on the street and five more with his immortal mercenary of a father had kept the boy humble. He knew all too well that there would always be someone stronger than you, no matter how tough you were; not like that stopped him from training to his very limits, which drove Kratos crazy.

"Well, the man's out of our hair now; apparently his superior in the church's hierarchy of pastors managed to get on his case about preaching to those who clearly do not care." Speak of the devil; Lloyd turned around and grinned at Kratos as he walked into the tree rimmed clearing. The auburn's eyes were tired, but he walked as easily as he had earlier in the day. Seeing Lloyd waiting for him, Kratos smiled slightly in return and commented, "I personally thought that you would snap at him before I did; he did keep calling you a brat, after all."

"Yeah, but your lesson's stick rather well; maybe because you hit me when I don't listen." Lloyd replied evenly, which only served to make his father's eye twitch. "That's also why I've got such good control on my emotions as well; seems I take after you in more than one way. … but if it makes you feel better, every time he called me a brat, I felt like taking a mana scalpel to his eyes." Seeing his father's curious look, Lloyd crossed both arms over his chest and grumbled out, "He saw mine and freaked, y'know."

Kratos didn't respond right away, but inwardly he was wincing; while his eyes looked more amber colored because of how deep the color of his hair was, Lloyd's were obviously wine colored. Although most people noticed Lloyd's gentle nature before they noticed his eyes, he still unnerved most everyone. That wasn't even touching on what happened when he glared at people. Finally letting out a sigh, Kratos reached out and squeezed Lloyd's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I guess it cannot be helped; would hitting something help?" He asked gently, knowing that Lloyd would be good if he was engaged in a sparring session.

Instantly, Lloyd brightened. "Really?!" He asked, eyes widening as a grin spread over his face. While he and Kratos did spar often, they usually had to hold back in front of other people; angelic abilities weren't exactly commonplace, after all. When he saw his father nod, the preteen's grin widened, and he tackle-glomped his father before thanking him; he normally didn't do this, but the statement had made his day.

Kratos was stunned, but a smile worked its way onto his face; if there was one thing he was certain he would never get tired of, it was the enthusiasm that Lloyd always seemed to possess. "Al—alright, alright; let go then, and we can get started." He told the boy, detaching him from his waist. Once he was certain that Lloyd was ready, Kratos drew the battered sword at his side, letting his sapphire wings blink into existence.

Lloyd looked at his father with a grin, and allowed his own wings to appear behind his shoulders as he drew his swords. "Alrighty then, let's go!!" He said, rushing at his father, but had to leap and roll to one side in order to dodge a salvo of icicles that were sent his way. "Oi!! Cheap shot, cheap shot!!"

"You left yourself wide open during your charge. I did what any sensible enemy would do and took advantage of that opening." Kratos replied evenly, smiling while he did so. Before Lloyd could gather his wind up to come up with a retort, the auburn was charging him, sword flashing in the air. "_Hyouga sattou!!_" The hand and a half sword began to glow with a brilliant sapphire light, and wherever it hit froze in an instant. Lloyd sent his father a surprised look as he leapt away, grinning at the same time.

"_Imi no keiji!!!_" Lloyd countered, sending a shockwave of pale blue mana racing towards Kratos, who was forced to leap into the air and perform a Guardian spell as the second wave came, powder blue bolts of energy following. Due to the fact that nobody else had ever used raw mana before, Lloyd and Kratos had spent a lot of time and energy working out techs that Lloyd could use to his advantage; Imi no Keiji was the most recent success.

Landing once he was certain that the last set of shockwaves had passed, Kratos raised an eyebrow. "You've improved." He said simply, earning a smirk from Lloyd. A heartbeat later, Kratos had to leap back a foot to dodge a _Haku sashijou. _"Using that maneuver on your father is a shameful – OI!" Kratos cut himself off, dodging away from a second Haku sashijou.

"Didn't you once tell me that if you had energy to talk, you had energy to fight??" Lloyd teased as he ran towards his father, smiling happily, all thoughts about annoying clients and other such worries lost to the rush of movement and energy in his body.

Just as he reached Kratos, Lloyd leapt up into the air to dodge his father's Glacier thrust. "I really should stop telling you that sort of thing, shouldn't I??" Kratos replied after a moment, leaping into the air after son, bringing his hand and a half sword up to hit him. It was met with the crossed blades that Lloyd held, and the two abruptly abandoned their mana strikes to exchange sword blows, dodging and rolling in mid-air. Needless to say, if anyone had looked up at the sight, they would've been shocked at the sight (if they saw more than a dark blue and a white-blue blur moving around in mid-air at high speeds).

"_Tsubame hisame!!"_ Kratos seemed to be growing tired of the mid-air spar, because as soon as the fast moving darts of ice and solid snow started flying through the air, he forced Lloyd to land. Once the two were on the ground again, they stopped at opposite ends of the clearing, grinning at one another. Both of them sported small cuts and a couple of bruises, but nothing more serious than that.

The two were about to charge once again when shouting reached their ears. Alarmed, Kratos held up a hand to keep Lloyd quiet, and tilted his head to hear what was being said. After a moment, he stiffened, and reached out to grab Lloyd's arm. "Hey, what's wrong??" Lloyd asked, worried. Kratos shot a glare at the woods at their backs, a single word leaving his mouth as a snarl.

"Desians."

"Lloyd stiffened as well, and hissed. "Did they see us?!" Kratos shook his head as they took off running, their wings vanishing a heartbeat after they started moving.

"No; I wager that they didn't even know that we were here until they came within hearing range of our spar. From the amount of men present, I believe that they were planning on going on a raiding party or something to that extent." Kratos explained, letting go of Lloyd's arm; the boy could run fast on his own. "Lloyd … do you remember how Yuan and I explained the warping process??" He asked after a moment.

"Yeah … just draw my wings … and use the amount of mana needed for a Haku sashijou and a _Kon sashijou _combined, and picture where I want to go with my mind, or remember the place's name … right??" Lloyd replied, wondering what his father was getting at.

"Correct; do you remember the name of the capital of Tethe'alla??"

"Meltokio, right?"

"Yes."

"Wait … are you telling me that we're going to warp to Tethe'alla!?" Lloyd finally demanded, Kratos' plan coming together in a flash. When Kratos nodded, Lloyd swore in street cant under his breath. "Stupid puttocks!!" Drawing out his wings, Lloyd grabbed onto his father's arm as a failsafe to keep himself from getting lost in the dimensional void between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.

If Kratos noticed, he didn't call attention to it, because a few seconds later, his wings were out, and he had begun the warp spell. A heartbeat later, Lloyd and Kratos were gone, a couple of stray feathers the only signs that they had been there; those vanished within a few moments.

_(Terepooto no jutsu!!)_

A few miles outside of Meltokio, there was a brief flare of sapphire mana before Kratos and Lloyd appeared, both of them looking rather winded. Lloyd – who had lived on Sylvarant for as long as he could remember – stopped and stared in awe at the towering marble walls of the grand city. "Woah … that's … rather interesting. Do they not trust their police force to keep troublemakers out?" He asked his father as Kratos straightened. "It's not like there's any other city around to challenge them or something like that."

"Four thousand years ago there was; the wall was erected then." Kratos replied, placing his sword back into its sheathe. "It seems that they haven't bothered to lower it since then." Walking towards the city, he glanced over his shoulder, "Let's get going, Lloyd; it is nearly sundown here."

"Ah, okay!" Lloyd responded, running to catch up with his father. Once he had, he walked along side him, a calm smile on his face. It was hard to believe that when he had first been informed about the two worlds Lloyd had completely freaked out, which lead to the demonstration of what HAD to be the most colorful vocabulary of any eight year old Kratos had ever met. (It also lead to Lloyd getting a long lecture on emotions and on how poor language reflected poor education, but that is a different story altogether.) He seemed so settled with the place that he was able to keep a mostly normal face when he and Kratos first entered the city.

He couldn't contain his shock, however, when a person bumped into him, nearly making him trip. "Ah!" he gasped, taking a couple steps in order to keep his balance. Turning around, he saw that the person was already walking off, almost as if they hadn't noticed him. Leveling a glare at the person, Lloyd muttered, "Stuck up cityman," beneath his breath, and followed Kratos to the inn where they would be staying for the evening.

Once they had their room secured for the night, Kratos sat down on one of the beds and looked at Lloyd with a faint smile on his face. "A lot bigger than Palmacosta, now isn't it?" He asked, naming the largest city that they had visited on Sylvarant. Lloyd nodded.

"The people here are a lot ruder too." He muttered, sending a dark glare out through a window. Kratos had to sigh at that.

"Indeed; you get used to it after a while." He replied, standing and handing Lloyd one of the room keys. "Be back here around nine; I want to do some job hunting." Kratos received a smile and a nod from Lloyd, who grabbed his red jacket and walked quickly from the room. Smiling to himself, Kratos couldn't help but think that perhaps there would be some good from coming here.

Lloyd looked around the streets once he had exited the inn, and after a brief moment, turned to his left and walked down the road, having felt a good deal of mana around the area. He briefly heard Kratos exit behind him, turning and walking in the other direction. Lloyd decided not to bother his father, and kept on walking when he felt a sudden burst of energy coming from his left. Picking up his pace slightly, Lloyd had to skid to a stop in order to avoid colliding with an airborne redhead, who seemed singed. "What in the name of the Bloody Owl --!?" he exclaimed as the redhead straightened.

"YOU ERRO-BAKA, IF YOU TRY THAT ONE MORE TIME …" A girl's voice threatened, the tone of voice so dangerous that it made Lloyd back up a couple of spaces. Stalking out from the direction that the redhead had just flown down was a girl a couple of years older than he was, with pitch black hair and brilliant gold-brown eyes. She was dressed like a shinobi (Lloyd had never seen one, but he had heard about them from his father before), and for a fourteen-year-old, was quite developed.

She seemed hell-bent on getting her opinion across to the redhead, who ran off as soon as she had gotten within five feet of him. "Hmph! Perverted AND cowardly," She muttered, eyes narrowed as she turned her head to follow the absent older boy. Spying Lloyd, out of the corner of her vision, the girl turned with a blush dominating her face, and asked, "You … heard that, huh??" Lloyd shrugged.

"Yeah, I kinda did." He chuckled weakly. Looking at the girl, Lloyd began to get a feel for her mana; it was a pale shade of purple, somewhere between wisteria and lavender, and it felt like a combination of lightning, dark, and … Lloyd had to bite his lip to stifle a gasp of shock; the majority of her mana felt so trusting, so open … and from what he'd read, that was what Angelica's mana was supposed to feel like. Trying desperately to come up with a way to get out of the awkward moment, Lloyd smiled and said, "My name's Lloyd Aurion; what's yours, miss?"

"… I'm Sheena; Sheena Fujibayashi." Sheena smiled weakly in return, and offered Lloyd her hand; the brunet took it and shook it, his smile growing wider. A small fox with three tails was perched on Sheena's shoulder, now that Lloyd was looking – how he had missed it before, he didn't really know, but now that he had, it caught his attention.

Reaching out a hand to pet it, Lloyd smiled at it. "And what's your name, little spirit?" he asked as the small kitsune as it butted against his hand. Sheena blinked and looked at Lloyd like he was mad; he was talking to Corrine without freaking out?!

"Nwa~~ I'm Corrine, Lloyd!" the small spirit purred, falling limp as Lloyd expertly scratched his head behind his ears. Lloyd laughed at how quickly the spirit was subdued. Glancing at Sheena, he gave her a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"You summon?" He asked gently, and was answered with a nod of the head. Brightening, Lloyd grinned. "Neat!! I've got a book with me on the different summon spirits, if you want to look at it!!" He exclaimed, eyes lighting up. Sheena's face also lit slightly.

"Do you??" while Sheena was scared of her powers, she was interested in the Summon Spirits themselves. Lloyd nodded, and grabbed her arm before dragging her and Corrine back towards the inn. After a few steps, Sheena began to keep up with Lloyd under her own power, and began asking him questions. "Where do you live?"

"Nowhere, really; Dad and I wander about looking for work." Lloyd responded, weaving in and out of the stream of people still out on the roads. "We're … mercenaries." He explained once he saw Sheena's confused look.

"You travel with your dad?" Sheena asked as Corrine leapt onto Lloyd's shoulder from hers. When Lloyd nodded, Sheena laughed, "wow, and I thought that only Mizuho let warriors our age wander about looking for work! I'm on a year-long training mission myself!"

"Really!? If you want, we can see if Dad will let you travel with us for a while!!" Lloyd punched the air with a fist, and then remembered that he was being a tad too forward. "Oh … if you want to, that is." He added as an afterthought, looking down with a faintly red face.

Sheena, however, laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like fun!! If he'll let it, I'd like to do so!"

"That's great!! We can ask him when he gets back!!" Lloyd leapt for joy at that point, forcing Corrine to cling to his shoulder. When they reached the inn, Lloyd headed towards the stairs. "Hey Sheena, can you get us a small table or something in the café area?? I'll go grab the book for us to look at!!" The response Sheena gave him was a grin.

"Okay!!" she nodded with a grin, Corrine leaping back to her shoulder as she did what she was asked, Lloyd heading up the stairs.

The foundations of a strong friendship had just been put into place …

_

* * *

Hyouga sattou:__ (Translates to "Glacier rush") While it is not a directly offensive attack, it is basically an upgraded version of the "Tempest Seal: Ice". Not only does it take a shorter time to use, it also lasts until Kratos in rendered unconscious or until the fight is over; it also give a power boost to ice-based attacks._

_Imi no Keiji:__ ("Holy Apocalypse") One of Lloyd's Mana techs. It creates a first, mid power but fast moving shockwave to briefly paralyze the target, and releases a second, larger shockwave in the air soon after, bolts of mana energy following it. This sequence repeats a few times before stopping._

_Haku sashijou:__ ("Negative energy bolt") Drains Mana from target, but does no other damage; rather useful against mages._

_Glacier thrust:__ Literally a "Sonic Thrust" with an ice element attached to it._

_Tsubame hisame:__ ("Swallow hailstorm") a good amount of large hailstones and icicles appear and fly like swallows towards the target. Really painful to get hit with._

_Kon sashijou:__ ("Positive energy bolt") similar to "Haku sashijou", but drains life energy instead of mana._

_

* * *

A/N: Whew!! ^^; this chapter was so hard to start!! _

_Well, what do you think?! And before ANYONE ASKS, SHEENA IS NOT GOING TO BECOME AN ANGEL. Nope; I have better things – more original things – in store for her … X3her AND Presea-chan … *runs off, cackling evilly*_

_And of course, there will still be Kralloyd oyakoness!!_

_Review please!!_


	6. 6・身内・A Friend

_Woo hoo!!! Here we go~~! *dances around*  
__**Lloyd: **__… *whispers to Kratos* __She's been having mood swings recently; d__o you think she's PMSing??__  
HEY!!!!  
__**Kratos:**__ Lloyd, if you value your life, I suggest you run. FAST.  
__**Lloyd:**__ *gone*  
*chases after, yelling fluently in three different languages*  
__**Kratos: **__... Li-chan owns only the unfamiliar spirits … … I'm impressed that she knows that many swear words in Japanese … *sweatdrops*_

6・身内・Friends

* * *

When Kratos returned to the inn, he was startled to see that Lloyd had already returned. Glancing around, he saw his son's back was to him, and that he was in the café area of the inn. 'I wonder …' he thought to himself, and walked back into the café area himself. There was Lloyd, sitting at a table with a strange girl and a fox, pouring over a book. Raising an eyebrow, Kratos walked over to the table just as the pair began debating something interesting.

"Where I grew up, it said that the three elder spirits were the spirits of Life, Death and Rebirth." It was the girl who was talking, and she seemed every bit as stubborn as Lloyd was. Lloyd was shaking his head.

"I've heard of them as the spirits of Birth, Death and Heart; where did the Life Death and Rebirth theory come from, Sheena?" He asked, and Kratos arched an eyebrow as he walked over to the two and pulled a chair over from one of the unoccupied tables and settled himself at the same table as the two.

"Yes, I'm actually interested about that myself." He commented, making both Lloyd and Sheena jump a foot in the air and turn to look at him in shock.

"Dad! Must you do that?!" Lloyd asked, putting his hand over his heart. "You prolly scared a decade or so off o' my life!" he said, spinning around partially in his chair, using his old street child cant for emphasis. Sheena and Corrine both giggled at his dramatics, while Kratos shook his head in mild irritation and bopped the boy on the head. Lloyd rubbed the offended spot and muttered "Loosen up, will you?" under his breath, sending his father an annoyed glance.

Kratos ignored him, and instead looked at Sheena again; his visible eyebrow rose an inch. "… I didn't know that there were wild _kitsune_ left." He commented lightly, eyes locked on the girl as she stiffened noticeably. Lloyd looked at her in confusion before glancing at his father again.

"A kit-sue-nay – what in the name of the Bloody Owl is that?" He asked, blinking. Looking between Sheena and Corrine, he commented, "I thought Corrine was a Summon Spirit …"

"No … he meant me …" Sheena muttered, her head drooping as she stared down at the table. "… I'm a hanyou … a half –breed." Looking up at Kratos through her blackish-purple bangs, she asked quietly, "How could you tell?" Kratos smiled gently.

"I can sense mana, and while I could tell that you weren't fully human, I didn't necessarily know that you were a kitsune hanyou." He explained. "But before you start worrying about it, I will say this; it matters little to me. My best friend is a half-elf." Sheena seemed to perk up at that, and she smiled weakly.

Lloyd was still confused. "Dad, what IS a kitsune?" He asked again, looking between Kratos and Sheena. "And why is that a bad thing if she is – she's been nice so far." Kratos looked at Lloyd and smiled again; he'd met the girl less than a half day ago, and yet he was already sticking to her side, no matter what. Turning to Sheena, the auburn nodded, signaling that it was her question to answer.

"Well, kitsune are notorious tricksters, and they're a type of_ Yōkai._" She explained, looking at Lloyd with a small, sad smile.

"Aren't there nice demons as well?" Lloyd asked, blinking as he looked at Kratos. The auburn nodded, and he was about to respond when he looked up at the clock that hung on the nearby cafe wall. It was nearly eleven at night; the cafe would be closing soon. Rising, Kratos said softly, "We should leave before we're kicked out. Lloyd, you do know that we have training at seven in the morning, right?" He looked at Sheena as soon as Lloyd nodded an affirmative. "You can join, if you wish." Sheena nodded, and she took off with Corrine on her shoulder after bidding Lloyd and Kratos good night.

Kratos waited until they were up in their room before turning to Lloyd and raising an eyebrow. "... Should I be worried about something?" He teased, making Lloyd pause and stare at him. Getting the barb, Lloyd went bright red and began to splutter uncontrollably, which made Kratos laugh. "Lloyd, I'm teasing." He reassured his son, who simply glowered at him. Sensing that Lloyd wasn't about to be nice for a while, Kratos decided to ask, "Well, why were you two so busy reading up on Summon Spirits? That's not a common field of interest."

Lloyd deflated slightly, and he said simply, "Sheena summons; she only has a pact with Corrine, but she does like to find out interesting things about the Spirits." Putting the book back in his bag, the brunet smiled. "She's nice too." Suddenly thinking about something, he tilted his head to look at Kratos. "Hey, how could you tell that Sheena was a half demon by feeling her mana, and I couldn't? I thought Mana was my element."

"I've been alive for four thousand years, Lloyd; it's a skill that you will pick up as well, albeit much sooner than I did." Kratos replied, smiling as he sat down on the bed across from where Lloyd stood. Lloyd rolled his eyes and sat on the bed across from him, still grinning. Smiling, the auburn rolled his shoulders, trying to get his tense muscles to relax as he continued, "Even though I've lived that long, however, I have no notion as to what element she's tied to." Raising an eyebrow, Kratos added "Besides, that's your field of specialty."

"You're just lazy about checking, Dad." Lloyd countered, only to find himself being pinned to the cot with one arm twisted up behind his back. Kratos was sitting nearby, keeping the twelve-year-old immobile. "Hey!!" Lloyd yelped, startled; no matter how long he was around his father, Kratos never ceased to amaze him with how suddenly he could move about if he wanted to. And considering the fact that the man was so … bloody strong, Lloyd knew that if his father had wanted to keep him immobile, he easily could. "By the Bloody Owl Dad, can't you take a joke anymore?!" Kratos only chuckled deeply in response, knowing that Lloyd was simply trying to irritate him; the attitude was the exact one he had used to infuriate his parents all those centuries ago.

"Alright, alright! Just get off!" Lloyd finally half-laughed, half-whined, and Kratos chuckled as he released the boy. As soon as he was released, Lloyd leapt at his father, tightening his arms around the man's neck and shoulders. "You goofball!" He muttered, laughing lightly; while Kratos seemed like an insensitive jerk to most of the world, Lloyd knew that his father was gentle; you just needed to find his soft spots. After another brief tussle, Lloyd settled down and let his pale blue wings appear behind him. After a moment, his aura shone into light around him, forming small, firefly like orbs that danced and raced around him.

Kratos knew what was going on, and remained silent; it took Lloyd a while to find a certain mana signature, but once he found it, it was ingrained into his mana. While it had startled Kratos the first time Lloyd had used the skill, now it was actually fascinating to watch; it only seemed to show how valuable raw mana was, even if the majority of the world used it only in elemental manipulation. After a few silent moments, Lloyd let out a satisfied noise, and a small orb of pale purple mana hovered over Lloyd's now open hands.

"Here it is." Lloyd said happily, holding out the trace of Sheena's mana for Kratos to see. "She's tied to three of the Summon spirits, but the one you most likely notice the most is Volt."

"Indeed; if it weren't for the fact that she was a kitsune, I would wonder if she was related to Yuan." Kratos joked, taking the orb of mana in his hand. Loosening his grip, he let it float above his hands. "I can also sense a trace of Shadow; all demons are, but usually ones as young as Sheena have very little taint to them. But what's this third trail …" He tapered off, and looked at Lloyd for an explanation; the brunet smirked.

"Angelica; Sheena's connection to the spirit of trust is nearly as strong as her connection to Volt." He said simply, making Kratos stare at him in shock. Smirking again, Lloyd called the orb of mana back, and it vanished upon touching his outstretched hand. Looking over at Kratos, the brunet continued, "That's probably why we both feel so at ease around her; she trusts us, and because of her mana, we trust her in return." Kratos looked at Lloyd with a light smile.

"You're also one who would rather trust someone over anything else, Lloyd." He told the boy, who chuckled weakly and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Shaking his head in amusement, Kratos continued, "I'm simply glad that you are trying to make friends, Lloyd; with the way we travel around so often, such contacts will be valuable in the long run. Not only that, but you really do need to be around others of your age group; you're starting to act like an adult."

"… Your point?" Lloyd asked, cocking an eyebrow in a questioning expression. Kratos shook his head, amused.

"That just goes to prove my point. Lloyd, you're only twelve. You have six years at least to be a child." He sighed, and then blinked as Lloyd shook his head.

"Dad, a child is someone naïve and foolish, someone who doesn't understand evil." Lloyd sighed, a haunted look in his wine red eyes. "I haven't been a child for nine years … I know how cruel the world can be sometimes, how life and death are brought about … Dad, I might only be twelve, but I certainly feel a heck of a lot older." Kratos inwardly flinched at the statement Lloyd made; no twelve year old should sound so world-weary. Sighing, the auburn reached over and ruffled Lloyd's hair.

"Just don't let your mind forget that there is still much more to learn than what you already know." He stated solemnly, making Lloyd look up at him. Smiling, Kratos wrapped Lloyd in a hug, pulling the boy closer to his chest. "Even now, I find myself shocked to find out how much I _do_ not know, and I have been alive for four thousand and twenty-three years now."

"Old man." Lloyd teased, making Kratos' eye twitch. Putting Lloyd in a one armed headlock, the auburn ruffled Lloyd's hair with the other, much to the brunet's protests.

"Not even your mother could get away with calling me 'old man', Lloyd; don't try and get away with it yourself." He growled out playfully, letting Lloyd go. Lloyd gave his father a half-hearted glare as he quickly finger-combed his hair so that it was settled the way he liked it; messily neat with a spiky ponytail that reached his shoulders in back. Smiling as Lloyd looked up at him, Kratos shook his head. "Regardless, right now is not the time to discuss such things; I don't believe that we were able to meditate at all on our last assignment." Lloyd's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, with the way that annoying priest was always raving on about Martel, I couldn't tune out the world enough to do so." He agreed, rolling his eyes at the thought of their last client. While Kratos and Lloyd were not what one would call atheists, they did not truly believe in Martel being a goddess (Kratos always thought that Martel would be an angel, if she was anything). Kratos simply stated that he didn't like discussing his religious beliefs, and the tone he usually said such in made people shut their mouths about the question. Lloyd was never asked, simply because most people (rightfully) assumed that he shared the same stance as his father. And while neither of them minded those that did believe in the Goddess Martel, people that rambled on and on about it annoyed them to no end.

Shaking his head, Kratos simply placed his boots and sword aside and sat cross-legged on the bed, checking to make sure that the door was shut and locked. Lloyd also removed his weapons and boots, and sat back to back with his father, letting his wings and mana out as he closed his eyes and sank into mediation. While many people simply used the mediation skill to clear their minds and relax their bodies, for angels it served a far more vital purpose; because of the pure mana that coursed through their veins, angels needed to meditate to control it and keep their organs from being corroded. It went doubly so for Lloyd, who – unlike most angels – had no cardinal element that could further halt the corrosion.

Kratos shook his head over the memory of the first time he had tried to get Lloyd to meditate; it had taken the "casual" mention of how corroded organs were incapable of functioning normally; because so few angels actually took the time to meditate ((Kratos figured that apart from himself and Yuan, only about a quarter of Welgaia's population did so)), they forever lost the abilities they had possessed as humans. Lloyd had paled at that, and had grudgingly stuck to the lesson. 'To think that he's still so headstrong about certain things … I guess some things never change.' Kratos mused before closing his own eyes, his sapphire wings blinking into existence.

The two angels sat out the evening in their meditative state, with Kratos stirring first as the light of the morning sun reached into their room. Shaking his head, Kratos withdrew his wings and stood up slowly, forcing sleeping limbs and muscles to wake up. Looking at Lloyd, Kratos was relieved to see that the powder blue hue of his son's mana was still and collected within the boy's body; control over his mana was something that Lloyd had struggled with when he was younger. Placing a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, Kratos called, "Lloyd; morning." Lloyd's eyes blinked open slowly, and Lloyd shook his head before stretching out his limbs.

Sitting up, the boy grinned at his father. "Morning to you too, dad; are we training before or after breakfast?" He asked; Kratos glanced at the clock on the wall, which read five to seven. Pointing at the clock, Kratos bent down to pull on his boots and his sword. A second later, Lloyd was doing the same, his black and red boots fitting snugly over his feet and pants, the leather reinforcement light. Straightening, Lloyd grinned and raced his father to the door, while Kratos simply shook his head in amusement and followed him. 'The only bad thing about not meditating for such a long stretch of time is how hyper Lloyd is once he is able to do so again … I hope THAT will change in the future, if nothing else does.' He thought, watching the black scarf Lloyd wore flap out of site down the steps.

The auburn continued to walk at a leisurely pace, and it was exactly seven a.m. when he arrived at the training field, and a smile quirked at his lips when he saw Lloyd already training. Stepping into the small clearing, Kratos drew his sword after a moment, which caught Lloyd's attention. Turning around, Lloyd grinned at his father, and was about to say something when he saw another person approaching. "Over here, Sheena!" He called out, and Kratos glanced over his shoulder to see the young hanyou approaching them, Corrine on her shoulder. Since the training area was relatively secluded (one would have needed to look carefully into a grove of trees to find it), Kratos was impressed that Sheena had found them.

"Good morning, Sheena; I had forgotten that you would have possibly joined us today." He apologized, to which Sheena shrugged. Curious, the auburn asked, 'But I must know; how did you find us?" Sheena blushed and looked at the ground, poking her forefingers together; Kratos, whether he knew it or not, was a rather intimating person to speak with.

"My sense of smell is really strong, and well …" She began, and looked up at the two swordsmen through her lashes. "You both have such different smells, I had no problem following the scents to this place …" Seeing her embarrassment, Lloyd decided to give his new friend a bit of support.

"That's cool, Sheena! I don't think I could've done that if I tried!" He exclaimed, which made Sheena look up at him in relief and thanks. Kratos simply shook his head at the two, and finally managed to crack a smile at the sight of Corrine leaping to Lloyd's shoulder and licking the young angel's face, earning a faint squawk of protest. While the brunet and small summon spirit greeted one another, Kratos turned back to Sheena and smiled softly. "You don't have to hide your heritage from us; I have stranger contacts than a Yōkai hanyou; besides, I can see the faintest outlines of your ears and tails."

"Y – you can?" Sheena asked, slightly worried; most humans couldn't even detect illusions placed by a kitsune. Kratos nodded, and explained, "Lloyd and I have an elvish ancestor somewhere along the lines; the illusions are as strong as they should be." Relieved, Sheena nodded and let the illusions drop, revealing two pale lavender ears tipped in black; her two tails also boasted the same coloration. The sudden mana flux caught Lloyd's attention, and when he turned to stare at Sheena, he gawped, making Sheena blush and Kratos laugh. Glaring at his father, Lloyd leapt at him, swords extended. Corrine leaped from Lloyd to Sheena, startled.

For a few moments, the hanyou watched as father and son continued to exchange sword blows, impressed with the way they interacted. Smiling once she saw the first traces of mana flying about, Sheena pulled out one of her_ F__ū__in Kaado _and whispered softly, "_Omeshi: Raihana"_ Kratos and Lloyd had separated, and were about to charge one another again when bolts of lightning fell from the sky, a couple of them coming rather close to hitting them. Looking at Sheena, Kratos wasn't too surprised to see the hanyou was grinning foxily at them, a Fūin kaado in each hand.

"Of course; Mizuho spell cards." He sighed, and watched as Sheena ran and engaged Lloyd, the two younger fighters practically dancing around one another in their attempts to dodge and strike. Once he was certain that they were not paying attention to anything else but their spar, Kratos joined in once again, and the three continued to smack away at one another for the next hour or so.

As they were leaving to head back to the inn for breakfast, Sheena commented, "Kratos, you're insane."

"Finally! Someone agrees with me on that!" Lloyd exclaimed, earning a smack upside the head from his father. Shaking his head, Kratos turned to look at Sheena, one eyebrow cocked in a questioning way.

"Why on earth do you say that?" He asked, to which Sheena and Lloyd glanced at one another before saying at the same time, "Anybody who uses a spell like Fimbulvetr in a spar has to have SOME mental problems." Kratos stopped and looked over his shoulder at them both, one eye twitching; it felt like Yuan and Mithos were teasing him, like they had done back during the war.

"… I see …" He commented drily, making Lloyd and Sheena laugh. Shaking his head, Kratos kept one ear perked as the two switched from tormenting Kratos to a discussion on Summon Spirits in general and on Maxwell, Ereshkigal, and Verius in particular. 'hmm … perhaps I should let her accompany us like Lloyd asked last night; she seems to balance out Lloyd's tactical sword attacks with her seals, and with her speed, both of them could improve far faster than if Sheena simply continued on her own trip.' The auburn thought, and watched in amusement as the two managed to get in front of him, and Sheena elbowed Lloyd for a sarcastic comment. 'Plus she keeps him in line …' Kratos shook his head in amusement as they reached the inn, and allowed the two to race for the café area once again as he nodded to the inn keeper.

He did not broach the subject of their travels until after their orders for breakfast had been given. Folding his arms on top of the table, Kratos commented to Lloyd, "Well, I finally managed to get us an assignment last night; it's nothing _too _serious, but it involves going between Sybak and Ozette, through the Gaorrocha Forest."

"Nothing wrong with that; what all are we _doing_ on the job?" Lloyd rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, watching his father with a playful glint in his eyes. Kratos smiled; Lloyd was always up for a challenge.

"We need to get rid of a supposed Sword Demon that's been blocking the road through the forest." Kratos explained, making Lloyd whoop lightly. Turning to face Sheena after sending his son a reproachful glare, Kratos smiled softly, "If you want, you can join us; you just might help Lloyd keep himself out of trouble." Sheena perked up, and she nodded rapidly. Lloyd, having heard the statement and seeing Sheena agree, whooped again, this time getting smacked upside the head. Kratos would've lectured him, but their food arrived, and he simply shook his head and said simply, "Well then, eat as much as you two can; we'll be heading out in an hour and a half."

* * *

^w^ _Yeah, so Sheena isn't an angel in this story, but she's a kitsune hanyou (half demon). She's always seemed more kitsune-like to me than elf-like, but this is the first story where I could possibly make Sheena a kitsune. She might find out that Lloyd and Kratos are angels while she travels with them, she might not, but she will part ways with them before they go back to Sylvarant. But now I have a new question for you all; should I have Sheena make a pact with one of the Tethe'allan summon spirits? If so, which one? There is a poll on my profile for you all to check out! ((Yes, you can pick Volt; I'll work out a way for the mana links to be introduced in the future as well.))_

_TRANSLATIONS_

Yōkai _– Shape shifting demons  
_Hanyou _– half-breed_  
kitsune _– fox shaped Yōkai that can possess up to nine tails_  
Fūin Kaado – _(lit. seal card) Sheena's spell cards; I thought Fūin Kaado sounded better than saying spell card  
_Omeshi: raihana: _(Summoning: Lightning Flower) One of Sheena's techs; it summons thin, highly-vamped lightning bolts that fall from the sky and strike in a flower shaped pattern._

_Review, pleases!_


	7. 7・剣舞・Sword Dance

_Well, here we go~! Time for chapter seven~! *w* And the results of the poll so far are …  
_Shadow: 6  
Nimúe (one of my OC spirits): 4  
Volt: 3  
Celsius: 1  
Gnome: 1  
Honora: 1  
_As you can most likely tell, Shadow is clearly in the lead. (Go Shadow!)_

_This'll be the last chapter where you get to vote~! As soon as chapter eight goes up, the polls are closing~! Why chapter eight? Because that's te last chapter with Sheena in it until the journey starts, and then we'll run into … PRESEA~! ^w^_

_So enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to vote! The poll is on my profile! NO DOUBLE VOTING!_

7・剣舞・Sword Dance

* * *

Up above the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, Mithos Yggdrasil, leader of Cruxis and the Fallen Hero of the Kharlan War, paced anxiously before his throne, his sapphire blue eyes narrowed sharply. While he knew that Origin's seal was still alive, he could not trace the auburn for the life of him. "Curse it all!" He swore after a long while, straightening and firing bursts of mana at the two windows. "I should have forbidden him from returning to the worlds after that bitch of a human and that angelic bastard child died!" Mithos glowered darkly at the luminous seed that hovered above his throne. "It has been five years, and he has not returned … nor have any of the Desians seen him!"

Flying over to his throne, Mithos sank into the chair, holding his head in his hands as a scantily clad woman surrounded by eight talismans approached him. "What do you want, Pronyma?" Mithos growled, glaring up at the half-elf through his blond bangs. Pronyma stopped for a few seconds, and then she sighed softly, shifting her weight slightly.

"Lord Yggdrasil, a few weeks ago, a small group of Desian soldiers from the Luin/Asgard area believed that they spotted Lord Kratos." She stated cautiously, making Mithos' head snap up to stare at her in shock.

"Is he still there?!" The High Seraphim demanded, rising up onto his feet to stare directly into Pronyma's eyes. Startled, the leader of the Desian Grand cardinals backed up a few paces, shaking her head. "Apparently, they vanished shortly after the Desians caught sight of them. Where they went after, we do not know."

"Wait … _they?!_" Mithos demanded, eyes narrowing once again. Pronyman flinched and began to back up, fear radiating from her as Mithos asked, "Are you telling me he has found a new companion!? Or … perhaps that the slut who he traveled with all those years ago is still alive?!" Pronyma shook her head.

"The Desian that saw them said that the companion looked like a younger version of Lord Kratos, but he wasn't –" The woman cut herself out as Mithos let out an infuriated cry and fired off a large explosion of mana, shaking the walls of his palace. The blond angel's face contorted into a mask of fury, his sapphire eyes narrowed to the point where they appeared to be nothing more that dots against his face. Mana rolled off of him, his wings snapping the air behind him as he let out another cry.

"Impossible! That _whelp _should not have managed to survive!" He shouted, shaking his head in disbelief. "He was barely more than a newborn when that attack happened, he fell off of a fifty foot high cliff … there is no sense in that child living!" Glowering, Mithos turned to glare at Pronyma. "The instant that they return to Sylvarant, have the Desians capture them. Once they have, bring Kratos back up here, by force if need be, but bring him here alive."

"And the boy? What shall we do with him?" Pronyma asked cautiously, not knowing how her master would react to her questioning about the auburn's child. Mithos turned back to look at her, facing her fully as a deadly, insane smirk flittered across his dangerous face.

"Kill him."

* * *

If there was one thing Kratos had to admit to, it was that having a kitsune on the trip – a hanyou or not – was interesting. Sheena and Lloyd debated about several things that ranged from the nature of the Summon Spirits to the best toppings to put into a bowl of miso stew, to the best way to stalk a deer for supper, which was what they were arguing about this time. While Lloyd had the practical skills of an adult due to the fact that he and Kratos had lived on the road for the longest time, Sheena had her instincts and natural talent to back up her side of the argument. Kratos simply stood aside and let the two debate unless the subject was about to get violent, which was signaled by a small portion of Lloyd's mana flaring and the fact that Sheena's fox ears would start to lie flat against her skull.

As they were doing at the moment; Kratos sighed and stepped between the two, pushing them apart at arm's length and keeping them there. "That's all and well, you two, but this is not the time to be arguing about this sort of thing." He stated calmly, earning a couple of confused looks from both of them. Smiling, he nodded to Sheena, "Could you fetch dinner for us, Sheena? We'll be camping here for the night." Sheena nodded and beckoned to Corrine, who was currently riding on Kratos' head. The smaller fox spirit bounded onto his mistress' shoulder, and they bounded away into the brush, the black tips of Sheena's tails vanishing briefly. Lloyd rolled his eyes in annoyance, and turned to look at his father.

"How much longer till we get to the forest, Dad?" He asked, stretching his arms above his head as he looked at the sinking sun. "We've been on the road for nearly a week, and I can see Sybak to the south-west after about a day's worth of travel." Kratos looked over his left shoulder, and wasn't too shocked to faintly see the skyline of the academy city. Looking at Lloyd, he smiled and lightly threw one of the rolled up tents at the boy.

"Set up the camp, and I'll explain the rest of the job once Sheena and Corrine arrive." He said calmly, earning a light glare from Lloyd as the boy set up the tents that they had brought along. As he did so, Kratos set up the fire circle on the inside of the tents and began to plant the magical traps that would spring should someone unwelcome try to enter the camp. He was halfway done when Corrine and Sheena returned, needing help with the deer that they had managed to bring down for supper. Lloyd stood up and went to help her as soon as she appeared, making Kratos chuckle to himself. 'Those two … who would've thought that an angel and a Yōkai could become such good friends in such a short amount of time?' he wondered, but put the thought aside and started the fire, enjoying the silence.

As their dinner was cooking over the campfire, Kratos grunted and stretched out against a log, scratching Corrine as the small spirit rested on his shoulder like a cat. Lloyd was whittling something while Sheena began to work on something of her own, but both stopped when Kratos cleared his throat, which meant that he wanted to talk with the two. "Alright, I think it's time that I went into a little bit more detail as to what all we're going to be doing for this job." Shifting his position slightly, Kratos made sure that the two before him were paying the utmost attention to him as he said calmly, "The man who offered the job is a worker from Ozette, and he said that there is something similar to a sword wielding demon haunting a part of the Gaoracchia Forest. From what I was told, it has been challenging those that pass by it to a duel, and it kills any who accept and fail the duel."

"How pleasant," Lloyd commented drily, checking the meat to see if it was ready. "So basically we have to go and beat the monster into back down to Niflheim?" Kratos chuckled at that and began to nod, to which Lloyd grinned fiercely. "Nice; I've been wanting to get into a fight with something!" Sheena and Kratos both rolled their eyes at that.

"While that is a good thing, Lloyd, from the sound of it, this demon is said to be rather on the dangerous side." Kratos told his son with a chuckle, ticking off the details on his fingers. "It has four arms, a tail, and wings. Not to mention that it wields a nodachi, a claymore, a zwihander, and a rather large sickle and uses magic." Lloyd and Sheena both gulped at that, to which Kratos smiled lightly. "Now, don't you two worry; if I had thought that this job was a little over our heads, I wouldn't have accepted it. Now … we should eat before the food grows cold." Kratos concluded, to which Lloyd agreed with a whoop and began to pass out the roasted venison, handing a small bowl to Corrine for the spirit to eat out of.

Later that night, while Sheena and Corrine were asleep in the other tent, Lloyd rolled over on his side to look at Kratos. "Dad … do you think that we might … have to reveal what we are?" He asked softly, making Kratos look at him. The auburn sighed after a moment, and then rolled onto his back to stare at the stars; there was no real need for him to keep watch, due to the fact that there were no monsters on Tethe'alla, so he was rather relaxed.

"To be honest, Lloyd, that might be a possibility." Kratos admitted after a moment of silence, eyes flickering over to the tent where Sheena and Corrine were sleeping. "If such happens, we will have to make Sheena swear on her life not to tell another living soul, or else … I might have to remove that part of her memories." Lloyd winced, and then glanced over at the tent where his friend was resting, worry clearly written all over his face. With a faint sigh, Kratos reached out to ruffle Lloyd's hair affectionately. "Don't worry about it, Lloyd. I don't doubt that if we asked her, Sheena would understand and honor our request. We did basically guarantee that we wouldn't let a word slip about her being a hanyou, after all."

"I know, I know, it's just …" Lloyd sighed in return, locking his gaze upon the heavens. "She's the first friend I've ever managed to make. Even when I was living on the streets, the rest of the villagers in Iselia kept their children well away from me. Not even the Chosen was let within a few feet of me." Kratos' eyebrows rose, but he said nothing. Instead, he reached out and pulled Lloyd towards him, hugging the preteen.

"As long as you have found a close friend, Lloyd, then you have something to be happy about." Kratos stated calmly. "It doesn't matter if you are what you are or that Sheena is what she is, as long as you two stick by one another, no matter what." A smile worked its way onto the auburns face. "I couldn't begin to tell you how much mischief Yuan and I got into together." Lloyd rolled his eyes at his father's statement.

"And I'm willing to bet you got the two of you into the most trouble, am I right?" Lloyd teased in return, earning a good laugh from his father in return. "I guess getting into trouble runs in the family, doesn't it? If you weren't here to keep me out of it, I might have gotten myself into so much trouble that I'd be stuck in it." Kratos gave Lloyd a smile, and he gave the brunet an affectionate hug, which Lloyd returned with one of his own before he straightened up and walked back into the tent. "Meditation." He said simply when Kratos arched an eyebrow, to which the auburn nodded in understanding.

About ready to sit up, Kratos stopped when he heard frantically approaching footsteps. Eyes narrowed, he stood and tightened his grip on his sword, and was about to draw it when Yuan appeared at the edge of the ring of firelight, a very frightened look on his face. "Kratos!" He hissed, walking quickly into the campsite. Kratos held up a hand to keep the cobalt silent; Lloyd had yet to settle completely into meditation, so he could most likely overhear anything that they said.

Once he was certain that Lloyd was deep in a meditative trance, the auburn turned to his friend, concerned; it took a lot to rattle Yuan, so seeing the cobalt this worried set Kratos on edge. "Yuan, what on earth is wrong? You haven't been this jittery since Mithos almost attacked you three hundred years ago." Yuan glanced around and then gave a Kratos a serious look.

"There haven't been any Desians following you around, have there?" He asked, making Kratos' eyebrow shoot up into his hairline. Sensing the question that Kratos was about to ask, Yuan continued with, "I don't know _how _word got out, I swear I kept silent." Kratos' eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer, voice filled with worry.

"Are you saying that Mithos knows?!" He asked, keeping his voice low; Lloyd might not have been an issue, but Sheena was a rather light sleeper. Cautiously, Yuan nodded, his eyes worried. Kratos repressed a groan of horror and held his head in his hands. "It must have been the Desians that Lloyd and I saw shortly before we came to Tethe'alla. They were pursuing us, and one of them must've gotten a clear view ..." Suddenly suspicious, Kratos looked up at Yuan, and asked, "And how did you know of this, Yuan?"

"I was heading up to Welgaia when I heard him hollering about …" Yuan looked at Lloyd's tent in concern, and he whispered softly, "I heard him yelling about how Lloyd shouldn't still be alive." Kratos paled rapidly, but Yuan shook his head. "It only gets worse from there, Kratos; he wants you captured and brought back up to Welgaia as soon as is physically possible and …" He cut himself off, trembling. Kratos gave Yuan a worried look.

"And …?" He prodded, worried. "Yuan, what all are you not telling me?" Yuan gave his old friend a lost stare, and he drew a deep breath.

"When you're captured and brought up to Cruxis … Yggdrasil's given the order for Lloyd's death." Kratos' blood froze over, his eyes dilating to mere red dots against a white background. Shivering in fright, Kratos felt an emotion that was a mixture of parental rage and utter horror swell in his chest, demanding that he hunt down Mithos and kill him.

Swallowing the impulse, Kratos groaned and sank to the ground, holding his head in his hands. "I guess I should consider myself lucky that he didn't suspect such had happened sooner … he would have sent Kvar after us again, and I think that …" Severing the thought, Kratos looked up at Yuan and asked sternly, "can you distract him, at least for a while more?" Yuan's emerald eyes sparked, and a dangerous smirk worked its way onto his face.

"I'll lead them in every possible direction that I can, save for where the two of you are."

* * *

The Gaoracchia Forest loomed overhead within three days worth of travel, and yet Kratos had not told Lloyd about the things that he and Yuan had discussed that night. Sighing, the auburn kept both of his eyes on the surroundings as Lloyd and Sheena began to tense up, almost as if they were sensing the monster itself as it approached. Tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword, Kratos stepped forward so that he walked alongside the younger two, and said softly, "Do not let your guard down, either of you; the monster might strike at any time." Lloyd nodded, eyes darting everywhere; Sheena nodded weakly after a moment, her ears catching any noise that might come their way.

After about fifteen minutes of travel, a sound off to one side made Sheena look, her golden-brown eyes worried. "Something big is down that path …" She pointed to a shadowed glen, where the two angels could also hear something large lying in wait. Sharing a knowing glance, Kratos and Lloyd drew their swords, and Sheena readied herself as well, Corrine leaping down from Kratos' shoulder – his favorite place to rest – and began to walk alongside Sheena as the three walked down the path, nerves tingling with alertness as they entered the darkness.

Suddenly, a deep, raspy voice echoed in the air. STRONG ONES … AT LONG LAST, I SENSE STRONG ONES… Lloyd felt a shiver race down his spine, and he glanced at his father just as the most terrifying monster the brunet had ever seen walked into his line of vision. When Kratos had described the monster to them a few days ago, Lloyd and Sheena didn't imagine that the monster was simply a demon with four arms, but what stood before them now was nothing more than a grotesque, immortally tall skeleton. Admittedly, this skeleton wasn't the skeleton of a human, for a pair of twisted horns grew out of its skull, two demonic wings arched from its shoulders, although they were furled as to not get caught on the branches of the cursed trees around them, and a tail swished the path behind it as it walked, the bones blackened by an unknown event.

Like Kratos had said, each of the monsters four arms boasted a sword, the edges deadly sharp. As the beast stopped, it turned its head and looked at the three before it with empty eye sockets that still somehow gave the impression of the beast being able to see. YES … VERY STRONG ONES … WILL YOU FIGHT? I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR STRONG ONES TO COME TO THIS PLACE. TOO MANY WEAK ONES HAVE COME … THEY WERE DISPOSED OF WITH EASE. Sheena shivered, and she could tell that both Kratos and Lloyd were slightly unnerved as well.

The auburn finally stepped forward and looked the Sword Demon over. "Very well; we will battle you." He said simply, and the blackened skeleton looked at him with what could only be described as a murderous, and with no warning at all, swung the nodachi it was carrying at the auburn. Leaping back, Kratos nodded to the younger two, and Lloyd sprang instantly into action. Sheena followed suit soon after, Corrine leaping at the Sword Dancer as well.

What happened in the first five minutes after the battle began was a blur to Kratos. He remembered seeing Lloyd and Sheena continuously pummel the demon from behind and the sides, getting a few wounds every now and again. Corrine kept nipping and attacking the demon's bony ankles, which irritated it to no end, because the small spirit would always leap away before the demon could cut it in two. Kratos himself felt several wounds criss-crossing his person, but he was too focused on his own comfort, and was instead focusing on healing the younger two warriors when they most needed it.

Once five minutes had passed, however, the demon began to use magic. After such, things became faster and far more dangerous. It wasn't until the demon used a lightning attack on Sheena, however, that Kratos realized that things were getting over their heads. Instead of dodging, Sheena stared at the lightning bolt as it raced towards her, eyes wide with fright. Lloyd saw this, and didn't waste a second's worth of thought. With a yell, he tackled Sheena, knocking the kitsune away and taking the hit in her stead. He was rendered unconscious, and Sheena fainted soon after from a loss of blood, barely conscious.

Parental wrath swelled up within Kratos at the sight of his son being hurt. Forsaking common sense and his normally strong sense of caution, the auburn summoned up his wings, catching the demon's attention as holy mana filled the area. The demon let out a shriek and charged, but a wall of mana formed between it and Kratos. His red eyes narrowed, Kratos stared at the demon in fury. "You just made your last mistake. Struggle against these holy chains! Shining Bind!"

Before anything could react, pillars of light shot up from the ground, and the demon shrieked in pain. The holy light that pierced its being as Kratos' spell consumed it, leaving barely anything left behind as the demon's wings and tail were disintegrated. As the light waned, Kratos fell back to the earth, exhausted but satisfied. When a stifled gasp reached his ears, however, Kratos froze and looked over his shoulder, looking through the transparent blue of his wings. There was a fully conscious Sheena, sitting up and staring at his wings with her mouth wide open. Pushing the thought aside, Kratos turned around and narrowed his eyes as he saw that the demon was still slightly alive, its mangled form broken and disintegrated in several places.

"This isn't good …" Kratos growled, eyes narrowed; he could move if need be, but Shining Bind took a lot of mana to use. "I had hoped that this would be the end of it … one good hit will finish this." Looking at Sheena once last time, Kratos straightened and looked at the demon as it grasped the nodachi desperately, and pointed with his sword. "Fimbulviaslai!" The blizzard that erupted was one that would have made the hardy residents of Flanoir hiding in fear, and the winds howled around the demon. As Sheena watched, a miniature glacier erupted from the ground and impaled the remains of the skeleton before exploding outwards, reducing the monster to scattered bones and dust, three of its four cursed blades dissolving into the ground. The final blade – the claymore – flashed a brilliant white light and transformed into a metallic white Jian with a sneering demon face for the cross guard. Nearby, one of the demon's curly horns morphed into a mirror encased in gold, while the smallest tail bone turned into a glowing white jewel.

Once he was certain that the monster wasn't going to return, Kratos sighed and withdrew his wings in a pale flash of light, and then went to where Lloyd laid, unmoving. Watching him, Sheena could clearly see the concern and worry that the auburn's eyes contained. 'He cares so much for him …' She thought, and then managed to stumble upright and limped over towards the father and son, favoring her right leg, although the wound she had received in the battle was slowly healing. "Is … is Lloyd alright?" She asked after a moment, to which Kratos sighed.

"It'll take him a couple of days to wake up, but yes, he is fine." He rubbed his forehead. "If we could get to a city soon, then perhaps things might go …" Kratos cut himself off as mana fluctuated nearby, and when he turned to look, the auburn found himself staring at what had to be Sheena's beast form: he was looking straight at a two tailed kitsune about the same size as Noishe. "Sheena?" He asked, to which the kitsune nodded and looked over her shoulder, grimacing as she saw the wound on her leg.

_Get on: I can get us to Mizuho in a half hour sprint without too much of a problem__._ Sheena said. _It's the nearest place, and if you're with me, you won't be attacked as intruders._ Kratos gave Sheena one last look before he sighed and hoisted Lloyd onto Sheena's shoulder, and he grabbed the three items from the Sword Dancer and wrapped them in a bundle before handing them to Sheena. The kitsune took the bundle into her mouth as Kratos leaped to her back, and she gently picked up an unconscious Corrine with her tails before running off towards Mizuho.

* * *

Lloyd came to about a day or so later, groaning as he sat up. Looking around, the brunet saw that his father was nearby, apparently dozing. What made Lloyd blink was that his black and lavender mercenary outfit was missing, and he was wearing a Mizuho style outfit in white, navy and dark purple. A glance behind Lloyd showed the lavender and black fox that he figured was Sheena, and heaved a sigh of relief. While it wasn't quite enough to wake up his father – who seemed to be recovering from mana exhaustion – Sheena woke up and trotted over to him, and stuck her face into his chest. "Hey, Sheena!" He whispered happily, wondering why the girl was still in her beast form. "How long have we been here? Where are we? Why are you still in this shape?" Sheena blushed brightly, and shook her head. "What's wrong?" Lloyd asked, not realizing that Kratos had woken up.

"Lloyd, to shift back to her human form now, Sheena wouldn't be clothed." The auburn stated calmly, making both of them leap into the air from shock. Once Lloyd registered his father's comment, he blushed and nodded in understanding, but yelped as his father threw a pair of red hakama and a black gi at him. "Our clothes are being washed and mended; they got all but wrecked in the fighting." Kratos explained, and then nodded to Sheena. "I think it would be best if you left and took on a normal form, Sheena." The kitsune nodded and wandered over to a different room while Lloyd changed quickly into the outfit provided for him.

"Dad, are we in Mizuho?" Lloyd asked, to which Kratos nodded. Looking around, the boy gulped and asked softly, "What happened after I blacked out?" Kratos sighed heavily and explained, and he could clearly see Lloyd shudder in fear when he explained that Sheena had seen him with his wings out. "Are you going to have to … erase her memories?" Lloyd asked, to which Kratos shook his head.

"As soon as she returns, however, you and I will have to explain some things to her." The auburn stated calmly, and then gave a wry smile. "Although I will admit that we managed to get here much quicker than I had hoped; it seems that the demon had stolen three important relics from Mizuho, and as soon as they saw we had them with us, they relaxed significantly." As he finished, Sheena walked into the room in a variation of her regular outfit, Corrine on her shoulder. Kratos smiled at the girl and beckoned her over, and then asked, "Can you make sure no eavesdroppers are listening in, Sheena? I know that your village enjoys its security, but this shouldn't be overheard."

The Yōkai nodded, and a second later, a flash of pale mana covered the area before vanishing, and Sheena gave a nod to show that everything was clear. Looking at Lloyd, Kratos turned to look at Sheena again. "Alright, then; as you saw when I was attacking that monster, Sheena, I have wings. And before you ask, yes, I am an angel …" Kratos sighed, and his wings appeared once again, their deep blue hues making him glow. Lloyd gave his father a glance, and after a second, his wings appeared as well, looking far paler than normal when beside his father's. Sheena gaped and stared at the two, but then narrowed her eyes, confused.

"Wait … if you two are angels, what are you doing here on Tethe'alla instead of guarding the Goddess Martel?" she asked, one of her tails twitching beside her. "I would think that if you were here at all, you would be talking to the Chosen of mana. Don't you two need to go give out oracles, blessings or something to that extent?" Lloyd snorted in laughter, earning a glare from Sheena.

Recovering just enough, Lloyd said calmly, "Sheena, if you were told that you had to guard a sleeping goddess, would you want to do that for long stretches of time?" When Sheena shook her head, Lloyd nodded. "See? Dad and I came down here just to stretch our legs and take a break."

"Apart from that, Sheena, there are still some things about our past that we cannot fully explain at present." Kratos cut Lloyd off and raised a hand before Sheena could protest to his statement. "If I attempted to explain it right now, you would not believe me in the slightest, and that is all I shall say for right now." Sheena nodded, face grim, but didn't attempt to coax anymore answers out of the auburn. After a moment, Lloyd and Kratos both hid their wings, and Sheena lowered the barrier as Kratos asked, "So, how long do we plan on staying here?" Sheena shrugged.

"I don't know, but Tiga-sama says that perhaps it's time … that I attempt another pact." Sheena looked at her lap as she spoke, and she added, "After what happened with Volt, they decided that I should be the one to choose instead of bowing down to the orders of nobility, but still …" Lloyd saw the distress in Sheena's eyes, and he wrapped his arms around her. Sheena had explained what had happened with Volt while they were traveling, and Kratos had to count to a hundred in fives mentally in order to keep himself from warping back to the palace and yelling at whoever's idea it had been to make a seven year old attempt a pact with the lightning spirit.

"Don't worry, Sheena!" Lloyd told her, looking the kitsune dead in the eye. "Dad and I will help you out, right Dad?" Lloyd turned to look at Kratos, who nodded in understanding. Turning back to the kitsune, Lloyd beamed. "See?? You've got us to back you up, alright? We won't let you get hurt again!" The smile that lit Sheena's face made both the brunet and the auburn smile. Tiga's voice called Sheena to him, leaving Lloyd and Kratos alone again. Looking at his father, Lloyd cocked his head to one side. "So … what're the training fields like here?"

_

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O MY GOD THIS TOOK FOREVER TO FINISH!!! XOO_

_Review, pleases!_


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